STRIKE 
INVESTIGATION 

BY THE COMMITTEE 
OF THE COPPER 
COUNTRY COM- 
MERCIAL CLUB OF 
MICHIGAN 1913 







•), OF B. 



His Excellency, Woodbridge N. Fern's, Governor of MicKigariy 
Lansing, Mich. 

Dear Sir: Herewith the Special Committee, appointed by the 
Copper Country Commercial Club to investigate strike conditions in 
the Copper Mining District of Michigan, begs leave to present to 
you its report. This committee was appointed at a meeting o\ the 
Board of Directors of the Commercial Club, held on the thirteenth 
day of September, 1913, for purposes as stated in the following 
resolution, which was adopted at that time : 

Resolution. The Copper Country Commercial Club is an 
organization of 500 business men and others of Houghton and 
Keweenaw counties, whose purposes, as stated in the constitution 
oi the club, are as follows : 

"To instill, cultivate and develop a spirit of civic pride among 
the people of the Copper Country, and an abiding confidence in 
the business and future greatness of the locality. 

To upbuild, develop and improve manufacturing, mercantile, 
agricultural and other economic conditions. 

To cooperate in and centralize all our efforts for general pub- 
licity. 

To induce people to come to the Copper Country and make 
their homes among us, and 

To take every possible means to promote the welfare oi all of 
the people of this community.'' 

For upwards of seven weeks a condition of affairs has existed 
and today exists in the copper country which is nullifying" every 
effort and every purpose of this organization. 

On Jul}- 23 the Western Federation of Miners called a general 
strike of all of it- members employed in the mines of this district, 
and within a few hours, by forcible means and otherwise, every 
man employed in or about the mines, whether a member of the 
federation or not, was deprived of his work, thus throwing out of 
employment an immense body of men. 

From the day of its inception the strike has been attended with 
rioting and bloodshed. Every day riotous mobs roam through the 



2 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

streets of our communities and are held in check only by the force 
of the National Guard of the state. Attacks on workingmen are 
of daily occurrence; our jails are filled with persons awaiting trial 
for violent acts during the strike; our children daily have before 
their eyes the spectacle of men acting in absolute disregard of law 
and order; all of which creates a deplorable and disgraceful condi- 
tion which should not be tolerated in a civilized community. 

The expense already incurred for maintaining the troops and 
the augmented civil authorities is enormous. 

The mine managers have refused to recognize the Western 
Federation of Miners and have refused to treat with them; media- 
tion and arbitration have been offered from various sources and 
refused. 

The press has been filled with the claims and counter-claims 
of the opposing parties, none of which have been verified. 

Reports of working conditions, wages and hours of labor in 
the mines of the copper country have been spread broadcast 
throughout the land, which, if taken for true, are a lasting shame 
and disgrace to the community. 

To avoid above conditions, many of our best people have left 
the copper country — some permanently, others to await the end of 
the struggle ; business is demoralized ; the enormous loss in wages 
to the men can never be regained ; the damage to the copper coun- 
try in its reputation for prosperity and well-being cannot be esti- 
mated. 

In view of the above, therefore, we believe that the time has 
come when this organization, whose every purpose is thus being de- 
stroyed, should rise up and demand that violence, rioting and blood- 
shed must cease in this community, and that the rights of the thou- 
sands of people who are not directly involved in this strike must 
be recognized and respected. 

We believe that the Copper Country Commercial Club should, 
through a committee of its members, conduct an investigation to 
ascertain the facts and truth as to wages, hours and labor and 
working conditions in general in the copper country, and when the 
truth has been ascertained, should publish it to the people of this 
county, of this state and of the nation. 

We believe that inasmuch as every attempt to bring about a 
cessation of strike conditions has failed, this organization should, 
through such committee, offer its services to both employer and 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 3 

employee so that order may be restored and a resumption of work 
brought about. 

It is therefore resolved, That the chairman of this meeting be 
authorized to appoint a committee of three members of the com- 
mercial club, which committee is hereby instructed to take every 
means to carry out the purposes herein mentioned with all possible 
speed. 

That such committee may employ clerical help, and incur such 
expense in connection with their work as may be necessary. 

That such committee report the result of its work, and that it 
be authorized to make such report public by publishing the same 
in the press oi this community and of the state. 

The Committee's Procedure. The committee felt that in 
order to make this report of any value wdiatever it should preserve 
throughout its entire investigation an unbiased attitude, and 
should harbor no prejudice for or against any of the parties in- 
volved in the strike. The committee recognized from the begin- 
ning that in this dispute, as in every other industrial dispute, there 
were many sides and factions to be considered. There were the 
men who were on strike, who were supposedly members of the 
Western Federation of Miners; there were the mine operators; 
there were the men, if any, who did not belong to the Western 
Federation of Miners, but who were not at work; there were the 
men who had either remained at work or had gone to work after 
the strike was declared, and there were the interests of the general 
public cf Houghton and Keweenaw counties. In order to obtain 
the fullest information from every source and to get all the facts 
that were available, the committee decided to place itself at the 
disposal of all of these parties, to hear all complaints, to investi- 
gate every fact in connection with the strike that might be brought 
to its attention, to familiarize itself with the actual labor and living 
conditions in the district, and to assemble these facts, if possible, in 
such a manner that they might be easily comprehended by the 
general public. 

The work has been of considerable magnitude because of the 
length of the territory to be covered, the number of mining com- 
panies operating, and the varying conditions in the different mines. 

Within a day or two after its appointment, the committee 
waited upon the managers of the various mines in the district, with 
the request that they throw open to the committee all the informa- 



4 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

tion that they might have relative to working conditions in their 
mines, and with the further request that the committee might have 
free access to the books and documents, the plants and under- 
ground workings of the various companies, so that it might verify 
and prove for itself any statements that it might embody in its 
report. These requests were at once cheerfully granted by every 
manager in the district. 

The committee then located an office at Calumet, that being 
understood to be the center of the strike zone and being the place 
where the Western Federation of Miners had established its head- 
quarters. Notices were inserted in the various newspapers in the 
county, calling attention to the general public, to the strikers, and 
to workingmen of all conditions, that the committee would be in 
attendance at its offices for the purpose of hearing the statements 
and complaints of the various parties. This notice was inserted 
in six newspapers printed in the following languages : English, Fin- 
nish and Austrian. 

NOTICE. 
COPPER COUNTRY COMMERCIAL CLUB INVESTI- 
GATING COMMITTEE. 

In order to get the fullest information in the shortest time 
from all parties interested in the present strike, we have decided to 
select certain places convenient to all parties interested that they 
may appear before the committee. 

Our first meeting place will be on the second floor, Ouello 
Block, Red Jacket, Michigan. The office will be open on Septem- 
ber 19 from 10 o'clock a. m. till 4 o'clock p. m., and thereafter until 
further notice. 

EDWARD ULSETH, 
HENRY L. BAER, 
JOHN W. BLACK, 

Committee. 

In addition to the publication of this notice an invitation was 
personally extended by the committee, through one of its mem- 
bers, to the Vice-President of the Western Federation of Miners, 
Mr. C. E. Mahoney, who has been in Calumet in charge of the 
strike since its inception, to present by himself or through any of 
the members of his organization, all the facts and grievances and 
demands upon which were based the calling of the strike. Later 
on a second invitation was personally extended to Mr. Mahoney 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 5 

to furnish to the committee the above data and a statement of con- 
ditions in the Copper Country, which the Western Federation of 
Miners was seeking to better. This information has not been fur- 
nished to the committee and the particular reason for refusing, as 
given by Mr. Mahoney, was his objection to the wording of the 
resolution by which the committee was appointed. 

The committee, during its investigation, visited the plants and 
mine locations of the various companies; the entire committee, 
with its secretary, went underground in the Calumet & Hecla 
Mines, both the Amygdaloid and Conglomerate workings, in the 
Quincy Mine and in the Trimountain Mine, one of the mines of 
the Copper Range Consolidated Mining Company. On its trips 
underground the committee inspected the various appliances used 
by miners and trammers, made such study of the one-man drill, 
which was one of the alleged grievances, as was possible within 
the limited time, interviewed many men who were at work in the 
various mines at their working places, and gathered much valuable 
data, which it has tried to embody in the following report. 

In its visits to the various mining locations the committee has 
interviewed a great many men belonging to the various factions, 
some of them being members of the Western Federation of Miners, 
some of them being non-union men. The committee took occasion 
to examine the pay rolls of the various companies and to check 
over and verify the wage statements and the other data, which 
are included in this report, in order that any statements made 
herein could be relied upon as being absolutely correct. 

In all of its proceedings the committee has tried to act with 
exact fairness to all parties, and in its report to set out the facts as 
they exist in the Copper Country of Michigan today, without color- 
ing the same in the interest of any of the parties. 

SOME DATA IN REGARD TO THE DISTRICT INVOLVED 

IN THE STRIKE. 

Inasmuch as the committee has felt that its report in this 
matter would be of interest and of value, not only to the contending 
parties in the strike now pending in the Copper Country, but to 
the general public of the state as well, it is thought wise to embody 
a verv brief history of the district in order that a clearer com- 
prehension may be had of the conditions new existing and of the 
atmosphere of this particular mining community, which is peculiar 
in many respects. 



6 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

The copper mining industry of Michigan has existed from an 
early date. In Keweenaw county it has been carried on since 1844. 
A great many companies since that time have operated in the dis- 
trict. Most of them have made no success and have been a source 
of loss to those who had invested their money in the enterprise. 
Few of the companies have paid dividends and at the present time, 
of all of the mines that are operating, seven have paid dividends 
regularly within recent years. 

The copper deposits of the Keweenaw Peninsula lie in well 
denned veins or lodes, dipping at different angles in the various 
mines, from 35 degrees from the horizontal at the north end of the 
Mohawk Mine to 70-72 degrees from the horizontal in the mines of 
the Copper Range Consolidated Company. The copper rock is 
mined by means of shafts, some of which are sunk on the vein, and 
some vertically, and which are of varying depths in the different 
mines, the deepest shafts in vertical depth in the district being 
those of the Tamarack Mining Company, which have reached a dis- 
tance of about 5,500 feet. From these shafts, drifts or levels are 
run, which also vary in length at the different mines and in the 
different shafts. On account of the difference in the conditions in 
the different mines, it is, therefore, impossible to treat the ques- 
tions involved in the controversy in a general way as applying to 
all of them, and it will be necessary to consider these questions in 
some instances with particular reference to the peculiar conditions 
of each mine. 

Attitude Toward Organized Labor. During the time that 
mining operations have been carried on in this district, the industry 
has been singularly free from strike troubles. The entire district 
has been carried on on the open shop principle, as nearly as the 
committee has been able to ascertain. At no time has any part of 
the district been thoroughly unionized, and at no time during the 
history of the district has any mining company treated directly 
with any labor organization. At the same time, men have been 
employed by the various companies without discrimination on 
account of union affiliations. At the present time there are em- 
ployed by the various mining companies on surface, machinists, 
molders, railway engineers, brakemen and others who belong to 
the various. unions or labor organizations of their particular crafts. 
Up to the time of the present strike men were not discriminated 
against because of their membership in the Western Federation of 






STRIKE INVESTIGATION 7 

Miners or any other miners' union, and many men, undoubtedly, 
were at work in the district, underground, who belonged to the 
Western Federation oi Miners. Since the beginning of the present 
strike, however, every one of the managers of the mining com- 
panies operating in the district has announced that hereafter no 
member of the Western Federation will be employed, and it may be 
stated at this point that each of the managers of the various com- 
panies has also stated, both to this committee and to representatives 
of the Federal Department of Labor and the Governor of the State, 
that they will tinder no circumstances recognize in any manner that 
particular organization. 

When requested by this committee to give their reasons for 
this arbitrary attitude, the mining managers stated as their reason 
the record of the Western Federation, as they understood it, in 
other camps previous to the trouble in this district. They pointed 
out in particular the record of the Federation in the strike carried 
on by it in the Coeur d'Alene district in Idaho in 1894, the strike 
carried on by it in the Cripple Creek and other mining districts of 
Colorado from 1894 to 1904, and took the stand that in their refusal 
to recognize or treat with the Federation they were justified by 
the fact, as stated by them, that every labor dispute in which the 
Western Federation had taken a part was accompanied by blood- 
shed and violence. 

The District Involved in This Strike. The district involved 
in the present strike extends from the Mohawk mine, which is 
situated in Keweenaw count}', south for a distance of approxi- 
mately twenty-eight miles to the mines of the Copper Range Con- 
solidated Company in Houghton county. The mining companies 
involved, commencing at the north end of the district with the Mo- 
hawk mine, are as follows: 

The Mohawk Mining Company, 
The Ahmeek Mining Company, 
Tlie Allouez Mining Company, 
all of which are located in Keweenaw county. 

The Osceola Consolidated Mining Company, which operates 
the North Kear-arge Mine, the South Kearsage Mine and the 
( )sceola Mine, 

The Wolverine Copper Mining Company, 
The Centennial Copper Mining Company, 
The Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, 



8 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

The Tamarack Mining Company, 

The Laurium Mining Company, 

The La Salle Copper Company, 

The Oneco Copper Company, 

The Franklin Mining Company, 

The Quincy Mining Company, 

The Hancock Consolidated Mining Company, 

The Isle Royale Copper Company, 

The Superior Copper Company, 

The Copper Range Consolidated Company, 
which controls the Baltic Mining Company, the Trimountain Min- 
ing Company and the Champion Copper Company, 

The Winona Copper Company. 
The following table gives the number of employees of all 
classes, surface and underground, of each company on July 22, 1913, 
the day before the strike : 

The Mohawk Mining Company 851 

The Ahmeek Mining Company 830 

The Allouez Mining Company 308 

The Osceola Consolidated Mining Company 1,143 

The Wolverine Copper Mining Company 387 

The Centennial Copper Mining Company 118 

The Calumet & Hecla Mining Company 4,107 

The Tamarack Mining Company 610 

The Laurium Mining Company 25 

The La Salle Copper Company 43 

The Oneco Copper Company 25 

The Franklin Mining Company 322 

The Quincy Mining Company 1,483 

The Hancock Consolidated Mining Company 161 

The Isle Royale Copper Company 709 

The Superior Copper Company 162 

The Copper Range Consolidated Company 2,716 

The Winona Copper Company 300 

Total 14,300 

The men employed in the various mines reside partly at the 
mining locations, which are unincorporated villages having only 
the township government, and partly in the several incorporated 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 9 

villages in the two counties, and in the city oi Hancock. The 

accompanying map shows in detail the location of the various 
mines and mining locations, incorporated villages and the city of 
Hancock. 

The entire population of the county of Keweenaw, according 
to the last census, was 7,156; that of Houghton county 88,098. The 
district depends entirely upon the mining industry for its existence, 
there being no other industry of importance carried on, and there- 
fore the entire population o\ the two counties above mentioned 
are directly affected by the present strike. 

The following tables ( as far as the committee has been able to 
complete them) show in detail the average copper contents per ton 
of rock, of the rock mined by the various companies during the 
year iqij, the number of pounds of refined copper produced in 
191 2, the amount of money paid out in wages to employees, and the 
average cost per pound of copper produced: 

1912. 1912. 1912. 1912. 

Average cop- Cost of 

per contents Pounds of Amount production 

per ton of refined copper paid per pound 

Name. rock mined. produced. in wages, of copper. 

Mohawk Mining Company.. 13.81 lbs. 11.995.598 $ 765.820.06 $.1061 

Ahmeek Mining Co 25.229 lbs. 16.455.769 543.817.37 $.0785 

Allouez Mining Co 16.56 lbs. 5,525.455 163,615.68 $.1352 

Osceola Consolidated Mining 

Company $.1036 

Osceola Mine 12.8 lbs. 1.479.642 135.097.27 

Xorth Kearsarge Mine... 12.8 lbs. 8.611.720 468.226.13 

South Kearsarge Mine... 18.2 lbs. 8,322,025 255.585.54 

Stamp Mill 142,659.68 

Wolverine Copper Mng. Co. 21.86 lbs. 9.120,485 378,875.75 $.08665 

Centennial Copper Mng. Co. 16.36 lbs. 1,742.338 60.591.70 $.1346 

Calumet & Hecla Mng. Co.. 24.18 lbs. 67.856.429 3,983,013.05 $.0986 

Tamarack Mining Co 18.76 lbs. 7,908,745 633.842.19 $.1315 

La Salle Copper Co 3.614.71 R 

Laurium Mining Co 27.183.49 B 

Franklin Mining Co 9.8 lbs. 1,710,651 219.724.95 

Oneco Copper Mining Co... 21.501.76 B 

Hancock Consol. Mng. Co.. 141.123.34 B 

Quincv Mining Co. . 15.73 lbs. 20.634.800 1.436.781.90 $.1148 

Isle Royale Copper Co 15.43 lbs. 8.186.957 555.205.55 $.1189 

Superior Copper Co 22.76 lbs. 3.921.974 164.220.57 $.1275 

Copper Ran^e Cons. Co.... 2.208. 537.62 

Baltic Mining Co 20.50 lbs. 13,373,961 

Trimountain Mining Co.. 19.04 lbs. 6.080.713 

Champion Copper Co 22.50 lbs. 17.225.508 

Winona Copper Co 12.73 lbs. 2.307.237 297,371.03 

Totals 213.360.007 12,606,409.34 

B — Xo copper production during 1912. Exploratory and development 
work onlv. 



\0 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

The average copper contents for the district per ton of rock mined 
is 19.33 lbs. 

The average copper contents for the Butte district per ton of rock mined 
is 61.75 lbs. 

The average copper contents for the Bisbee district per ton of rock mined 
is 74.5 lbs. 

The average price of copper per pound, over a period of 20 
years, from 1891 to 1910, as given by Stevens Copper Handbook, 
is $0.13768 per pound. 

Of the above mining companies in the district, seven paid divi- 
dends during the year 1912, namely: Mohawk Mining Company, 
Ahmeek Mining Company, Wolverine Copper Mining Company, 
Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, Osceola Consolidated Mining 
Company, Quincy Mining Company and Copper Range Consoli- 
dated Mining Company. The Isle Royale Copper Company in 
1913 paid one dividend of one dollar per share, being the first divi- 
dend since its operation which commenced previous to i860. 

Dividends and Assessments of Lake Superior Mines. In view 
of the claim that has been made that the Lake Superior Copper 
District is the richest in the world, the following table, taken from 
Stevens' Copper Handbook, will be of interest. The table, lists 
something over seventy mining companies that have operated in 
the Lake Superior Copper District from 1849 to 1910. Of the entire 
list only fourteen mines have paid back the money invested. If 
the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company is taken from the. list the 
table will show that, in all those years, the copper industry has 
just about paid back the money invested in it: 

1849-1910 
Company. Assessments. Dividends. Dr. Balance. Cr. Balance 

Adventure Cons $2,450,000 $ $2,450,000 $ . 

Ahmeek 850,000 850,000 

Albany & Boston 840,000 840,000 

Allouez 2,225,000 " 2,225,000 

Atlantic 1,180,000 990,000 190,000 

Arcadian 1,800,000 1,800,000 

Arnold .....'; 810,000 810,000 

Ashbed 40,000 40,000 

Aztec 150,000 150,000 

Baltic 1,800,000 6,550,000 4,750,000 

Belt 1,300,000 1,300,000 

Bohemian 180,000 180,000 

Caledonia 140,000 140,000 

Calumet & Hecla 1,200,000 112,500,000 111,300,000 

Centennial (Old) 1,135,000 1,135,000 

Centennial (New) 1,755,000 1,755,000 

Central 100,000 2,130,000 2,030,000 

Champion 2,500,000 6,600,000 4,100,000 



STR1 KE 1 N VEST] GAT1 ON 1 1 

1849-19 10 

Company. Assessments Dividends Dr. Balance. Cr. Balance 

Cliff (Old) S 111.000 S 2.518.620 S §2,407,620 

Conglomerate 1,300,000 1.300.000 

Copper Falls 1.000.000 100.000 900.000 

Copper Range Cons 2.300.000 10.756.520 8,456,526 

Delaware 2.000.000 2.000.000 

Elm River 1.200.000 1.200.000 

Evergreen Bluff 225.000 225.000 

Flint Steel 264.000 264.000 

Forrest 180.000 180,000 

Franklin 1.020.000 1.240.000 220,000 

Hancock 1.800.000 1.800.000 

Humbolt 120.000 120.000 

Huron 240.000 240,000 

Indiana ( Old I 200.000 200.000 

Isle Royale 2.750.000 2.750.000 

Kearsarge 180.000 160.000 20.000 

Keweenaw 2.800.000 2.800.00!) 

Kin- Fhilip 800.000 800.000 

Lake 300,000 300.000 

La Salle 1.000.000 1,000.000 

Mass. Cms 2.100.000 2.100.000 

Mayflower 800.000 800.000 

Michigan 2.000.000 2.000.000 

Miners 2.000.000 2,000,000 

Minnesota 456.000 1.820.000 1,364,000 

Mohawk 1.800.000 2.150,000 350,000 

National 350.000 320.000 30.000 

New Arcadian 75.000 75.000 

Nonesuch 400.000 400.000 

Northwest 283.000 283.000 

Norwich 230.000 230.000 

Ohio Trap Rock 150.000 150.000 

Oiibwav 1.008.000 1.008.000 

Old Colony 1.100.000 1,100,000 

Osceola . .' 1.700.000 9.343.250 7,643,250 

Pennsylvania 126.000 126.000 

Peninsula 400.000 400,000 

Pewabic 585.200 1.000.000 414,800 

Phoenix (Old) 1.037.500 20.000 1.017.500 

Phoenix Cons 1.350.000 1,350,000 

Quincv 200.000 19.302.500 19,102,500 

Ridge 470.000 100.000 370.000 

Rhode Island 1.000.000 1.000.000 

Superior 100,000 100.000 

Tamarack 780.000 9.420.000 8,640.000 

Tamarack lunior 640.000 640.000 

Tecumseh 500,000 500.000 

Trimountain 2.000.000 800.000 1.200.000 

Toltec 500.000 500.000 

Victoria 1,200, I 1.200.000 

Winona 2.200.000 2.200.000 

Wolverine 780,000 6.300.000 5.520.000 

Wvandot 1.000.000 1.OOO.000 

Miscellaneous 10.000.000 10,000,000 

Totals $79,565,700 $194,120,896 $61,843,500 $176,298,696 



12 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

Blacklists. The committee has investigated, as thoroughly 
as was possible, the question as to whether or not the mining com- 
panies in the Michigan district or the mine operators had formed 
any combination or had acted with any concerted plan previous to 
the present strike, and from such investigation the committee is 
convinced that, previous to the present strike, there has been no 
concerted action or combination among the mine managers or oper- 
ators at any time until after the strike had commenced. Since the 
strike has been in progress the committee finds that the mine opera- 
tors have adopted a uniform policy in regard to the recognition of 
the Western Federation of Miners, and the re-employment of mem- 
bers of that organization. 

The committee has also investigated thoroughly the question as 
to whether or not there existed in the Copper District of Michigan 
a "blacklist" of any kind, and whether discharge from one company 
would affect the possibility of obtaining re-employment with some 
other company. On this point the committee finds that, beyond 
any question, there has never existed, in recent years at least, any 
agreement of any kind between the various companies, nor has 
there existed any blacklist of employees. The committee has found, 
as a matter of fact, that employees discharged by one company 
have found ready employment with the other companies, and in 
one instance found that an employee discharged by a mining captain 
in one shaft of a mine, within a few days was re-employed by a 
captain of another shaft of the same mine. 

Living Conditions in the Michigan Copper District. Inasmuch 
as the present strike has brought about a discussion of living con- 
ditions in the Michigan Copper District, and various reports, some 
of which have been grossly exaggerated, have been published, the 
committee deems it essential to the completeness of its report that it 
present some of the facts as to the living conditions in Houghton 
and Keweenaw counties. A number of the statements hereinafter 
made are statements of facts known to the members of the com- 
mittee from their own residence in the district, while, in order to 
obtain other facts, it was necessary to make a thorough investiga- 
tion, both from the standpoint of the mine operators and the mine 
workers. The illustrations included in this report of miners' dwell- 
ing houses are pictures of typical houses, as far as the committee 
was able to obtain them. 

Housing. In the Michigan Copper District, as in most other 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 13 

mining camps, whenever a company begins to operate, one of the 
problems that presents itself is the housing of its men, in most 
cases the mine location being situated some distance away from 
any village or city. It has been the policy of the mining companies 
operating- in the Michigan Copper District to build whatever houses 
were necessary upon their own land and to lease or rent the houses 
to their employees. In no case is an employee compelled to live in 
a company house, — on the contrary, because of the very moderate 
rents that are charged in the Copper Country, company houses are 
in such great demand that the mining companies have a great many 
applications for each house. On account of the severity of the win- 
ters in the Lake Superior District, dwelling houses are built sub- 
stantially and with a view toward comfort in extremely cold 
weather. The type of houses, the rent charged, and the accommo- 
dations afforded to the tenants are about the same in all the mining 
locations. In the early days of the mining industry many of the 
houses built were log houses, a few of which may still be seen in 
the various mining locations. Of late years the log houses have 
gradually disappeared and have been replaced by frame dwelling 
houses, similar to those in the illustrations. In some instances, 
where the company has not a sufficient number of houses to accom- 
modate all of its employees and in some instances where employees 
have desired to own their own homes, the companies have rented 
lots to employees who have built their own houses thereon. 

The following is a table showing the number of houses owned 
by employees paying ground rent to the company, the usual size of 
the lots and the annual ground rent for the various companies. 

Xo. of Houses Size of Rent Per 

Name. Owned. Lots. Year. 

Mohawk Mining Company 120 100x125 $6.00 

Ahmeek Mining Company None 

Allouez Mining Company 15 75x100 5.00 

Osceola Cons. Mining Company 81 50x100 5.00 

Wolverine Copper Mining Co 64 100x100 6.00 to 10. 

Centennial Copper Mining Co 27 75x150 5.00 

Calumet & Hecla Mining Co \hout 1000 60x120 5.00 

Tamarack Mining Company 30 5300 sq. ft. 5.00 

LaSalle Copper Company \*on<- 

Laurium Mining Company None 

Franklin Mining Company 30 50x125 5.00 

Oneco Copper Mining Company None 

Quincv Mining Company 202 50x100 and up 5.00 

Hancock Cons. Mining Co 2 50x100 5.00 

Isle Royale Copper Company None 

The Superior Copper Company None 

Copper Range Consolidated Co 144 50x100 5.00 

75x100 6.00 

Winona Copper Company 36 50x100 1.00 



14 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

Rents. The following is some data with reference to each com- 
pany as to the houses rented, the size, the rents charged, and the 
improvements and accommodations to tenants. 

The Mohawk Mining Company rents 53 single frame houses, 
with 5 and 6 rooms and a barn, for $5.50 per month. It rents 63 
double frame houses with ten rooms and a barn for $5.50 for each 
side of the house. Water is supplied to the location by wells. 

The Ahmeek Mining Company has 

7 — 4 room frame dwelling houses at $4.00 per month. 

2 — 4 room frame dwelling houses at $3.50 per month. 
20 — 5 room frame dwelling houses at $5.00 per month. 

1 — 7 room frame dwelling house at $4.00 per month. 
28 — 7 room frame dwelling houses at $6.00 per month. 

Each house has a 12 by 12 barn. There is no water system under 

pressure but most of the families have piped water from wells to 

force pumps in their kitchens. The company charges five cents 

per kilowatt per hour for electric light, and the rent includes the 

removal of garbage whenever necessary. The company has supplied 

its employees with fuel, when requested, at the following prices : 

Pittsburg soft coal in lump, delivered to house, five dollars per ton ; 

four foot hard wood, delivered to house, five dollars per cord. All 

houses are kept in repair by the company. 

The Allouez Mining Company owns 17 log houses for which 
charges are made as follows : 

4 — 5 room log houses at $2.00 per month. 

10 — 5 room log houses at $2.50 per month. 

3 — 6 room log houses at $4.00 per month. 

This company has 66 frame houses which it rents at the follow- 
ing rates : 

4 — 4 room frame dwelling houses at $4.00 per month. 

8 — 4 room frame dwelling houses at $5.00 per month. 

2 — 5 room frame dwelling houses at $4.00 per month. 
18 — 5 room frame dwelling houses at $5.00 per month. 

2 — 5 room frame dwelling houses at $6.00 per month. 

2 — 6 room frame dwelling houses at $5.00 per month. 

2 — 6 room frame dwelling houses at $6.00 per month. 

2 — 7 room frame dwelling houses at $7.00 per month. 
26 — 7 room frame dwelling houses at $7.50 per month. 

The rent includes the weekly removal of garbage and the repair of 
the house. Water is supplied from wells and the company has sup- 
plied its esiploj-is with soft coal, when requested, at $5.25 per ton, 
delivere/ 1 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 15 

The Osceola Consolidated Mining Company owns 79 log houses 
For which it charges rent as fellows: 

1 — 4 room log dwelling house at $3.00 per month. 

61 — 5 room log dwelling houses at $3.00 to $4.00 per month. 

12 — 6 room log dwelling houses ai S4.00 per month. 

3 — 8 room log dwelling houses at $5.00 per month. 

2 — 10 room log dwelling houses at $6.00 per month. 

This company owns 267 frame houses which it rents as follows: 

3 — 3 room frame dwelling houses at $3.00 per month. 

29 — I- room frame dwelling houses at $4.00 per month. 

129 — 5 room frame dwelling houses at $4.00 to $5.00 per month. 

65 — 6 room frame dwelling houses at $5.00 per month. 

41 — 7 room frame dwelling houses at $6.00 per month. 

Sixty-five of the above houses are supplied with Lake Superior 
water from the Calumet Water System, for which a charge of fifty 
cents per month is made. The other houses are supplied from wells. 
The rent includes removal of garbage, whenever necessary, and the 
repair oi the house. The company sells to its employees, when 
requested, .-crap wood at two dollars per wagon load, delivered, and 
-team coal at rive dollars per ton, delivered. Wherever electric light 
is used the charge is ten cents per kilowatt per hour. 

The Wolverine Copper Mining Company. This company has 
one log house of three rooms which it rents at $3.00 per month. 
This company has 65 frame houses, from 3 rooms up to 7 rooms in 
each house, which it rents from S3. 50 per month for the 3-room 
house up to $7.00 per month for the /-room house, or an average of 
one dollar per room per month. Water is supplied from wells, and 
the rent includes the removal of garbage and the general repair of 
the house. This company supplies its employees, when requested, 
with fuel at the following rates: hard wood at six dollars per cord, 

coal at five dollars per ton. 

The Centennial Copper Mining Company owns 4 4-room log 
houses which it rents at $2.50 per month and one 5-room log house 
which it rents at $5.00 per month. It own- 44 frame houses which 
it rent- to employees at an average rent of one dollar per room, per 
month. Water is supplied from wells and the company has sup- 
plied employees, when requested, with soft coal at five dollars per 
b >n. 

The Calumet & Hecla Mining Company. This company owns 
40 log houses of 4 and 5 rooms each, which it rent- at from fifty 
cen' XD per month. The company own- 764 frame houses for 



]6 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

which it charges an average rent of $6.74 per month. None of the 
houses have less than 4 rooms ; 425 of the houses have stone founda- 
tions and cement floors in the basements. Lake Superior water is 
piped to each house by the Calumet & Hecla water system, for 
which there is no charge, and the rent includes the removal of gar- 
bage, and the entire repair of the house. This company sells no 
fuel to its employees except in charity cases, when it is free. The 
employees who own their own houses, located on lots rented from 
the company, pay five dollars per year, rental, for the lot, which 
includes water, taxes and garbage removal. 

The Tamarack Mining Company. This company owns 78 log 
houses and 327 frame houses for which it charges a rental of one 
dollar per room per month. Most of its houses are supplied with 
Lake Superior water for which a charge is made of fifty cents per 
family, per month. Rent includes removal of garbage, and wherever 
electric light is furnished, a charge of six cents per kilowatt hour is 
made. This company does not supply its employees with fuel, 

The La Salle Copper Company owns 4 log houses for which it 

charges $3.00 per month for a 5-room house, and 6 frame houses for 

which it charges as follows : 

1 — 8 room frame dwelling house at $5.00 per month. 
2 — 4 room frame dwelling houses at $3.00 per month. 
3 — 6 room frame dwelling houses at $6.00 per month. 

Water is supplied from wells and the company keeps the houses in 

repair. The company has furnished to employees, when requested, 

coal at five dollars per ton, delivered. 

The Laurium Mining Company. This company owns no dwell- 
ing houses. 

The Franklin Mining Company. This company owns 13 log 
houses for which no rent is charged. It owns frame houses for 
which it charges as follows : 

2 — 3 room frame dwelling houses at $3.00 per month. 
12 — 4 room frame dwelling houses at $3.00 per month. 
13 — 5 room frame dwelling houses at $4.00 oer month. 

2 — 6 room frame dwelling houses at $4.00 per month. 
19 — 6 room frame dwelling houses at $5.00 per month. 

2 — 8 room frame dwelling houses at $5.00 per month. 

Rent includes removal of garbage and the general repair of the 
house. This company has supplied its workmen, whenever re- 
quested, with soft coal at $4.50 per ton. 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 17 

The Oneco Copper Mining Company. This company has 8 

frame houses which it rents as Follows: 

7 — 5 room frame dwelling houses at $4.00 per month. 
1 — 8 room frame dwelling house at $5.00 per month. 

Water is supplied from wells and rent includes the removal of gar- 
bage, when required. Fuel is supplied to employees at cost to the 
company. 

The Quincy Mining Company. This company owns 25 log 
houses which it rents at $1.00 to $2.00 per month. It owns 443 
frame houses with 4 to 10 rooms. The latest constructed houses 
rent at $1.00 per room per month. The average of all houses is 80c 
per room per month. 

The Hancock Consolidated Mining Company. This company 
owns no houses. This company is located within the city of Han- 
cock, where most of its employees live. The city has an adequate 
water system and the company has supplied to its employees, when 
requested, fuel at cost to the company. 

The Isle Royale Copper Company. This company owns 11 4- 
room log houses which it rents at three dollars per month. It owns 
109 frame houses which it rents at an average of one dollar per 
room, per month. Water is supplied from w r ells and the rent in- 
cludes removal of garbage and the general repair of the house. This 
company has supplied soft coal to its employees, when requested, 
at five dollars per ton, delivered. 

The Superior Copper Company. This company owns no log 

houses. It owns 16 frame houses which it rents as follows: 

2 — 5 room frame dwelling houses at $6.00 per month. 

2 — 6 room frame dwelling houses at $5.00 per month. 

12 — 7 room frame dwelling houses at $6.00 per month. 

All repairs are made at the expense of the company and the water 

supply is from wells. The company has supplied soft coal to its 

employees, when requested, at S4.50 per ton. 

The Copper Range Consolidated Company. This company 

own- no log houses. It owns 007 frame houses, which it rents as 

follow- : 

4 — 2 room frame dwelling houses at $1.50 to $2.00 per month. 

1-4 — 3 room frame dwelling houses at $2.00 per month. 

101 — \ room frame dwelling houses at £2.25 to $4.00 per month. 

182 — 5 room frame dwelling houses at $3.50 per month. 

112 — 6 room frame dwelling houses at $5.00 to $7.00 per month. 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Kearsarge Mine. 



■ ^*-** > * 


fk 


fc 












'&% 


m 


•*. . 







Log Houses Rented to Employees, Ahmeek Mine. 





Company Houses Rented to Employees, Ahmeek Mine. 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Osceola Mine. 




5 l 






: 32 J LI 5 i .. . 



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4fifc*»%i«* 



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Company Houses Rented to Employees, Osceola Mine. 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Calumet & Hecla Mine, 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Calumet & Hecla Mine. 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Calumet & Hecla Mine. 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Calumet & Hecla Mine. 




Log Houses, Calumet & Hecla Mine. 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Calumet & Hecla Mine. 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Calumet & Hecla Mine. 




.*- . 



- 

m 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Ahmeek Mine. 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, South Kearsa&ge Mine. 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Allouez Mine. 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Osceola Mine. 




Company Houses Rented to Employees, Copper Range 
Consolidated Mine. 




Company Houses Rented io Employees, Coppeb Range 
Consolidated Mine. 




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O 

O 



en * 

W 



en 
H 

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o 

W 

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STRIKE INVESTIGATION 29 

93 — 7 room frame dwelling houses at $4.00 to $6.00 per month. 

89— 8 room frame dwelling houses at $4.00 to $12.00 per mouth. 

1 — 9 room frame dwelling house at $12.00 per mouth. 
5 — 10 room frame dwelling houses at $6.00 to $10.00 per mouth. 
1 — 11 room frame dwelling house at $6.00 per mouth. 
5 — 12 room frame dwelling houses at $15.00 per mouth. 

All houses are supplied with water faucets For which no charge is 
made. Rem also includes the removal of garbage and the general 
repair of the house. Where electric light is used a charge of twelve 
cents per kilowatt hour is made. This company has supplied to its 
employees, when requested, wood at four dollars per cord and soft 
coal at $4.50 per ton. 

The Winona Copper Company. This company has five log 
houses of three rooms each, which it rents at $2.00 per month. It 
owns 115 frame houses which it rents as follows: 

38 — 3 room frame dwelling houses at an average $3.30 per month. 

9 — 1- room frame dwelling houses at an average $3.90 per month. 
11 — 5 room frame dwelling houses at an average $4.00 per month. 
45 — 6 room frame dwelling houses at an average $5.95 per month. 

9 — 7 room frame dwelling houses at an average $7.45 per month. 

3 — 8 room frame dwelling houses at an average $15.00 per month. 

Water is piped to most of the houses for which a charge of fifty 
cents per month is made. Electricity is supplied on a sliding scale 
of ten cents to seven cents per kilowatt hour. Rent includes re- 
moval of garbage, whenever necessary, and the general repair of 
the house. This company has supplied to its employees, when 
requested, four foot hardwood at $4.50 per cord. 

Company Boarding Houses. Xone of the companies operate 
boarding houses. 

Company Stores. With the exception of one of the smaller 
companies, none of the companies operate stores. 

The Question of Evictions. During the first month or six 
weeks of the strike no attempt was made by any of the companies 
to evict any of the tenants residing in company houses. The first 
move in this direction was made by one of the companies when it 
became apparent that the strike was going to last for a considerable 
time and when the houses were necessary for the men who were 
working or desired to go to work. At some of the locations men 
came to the companies who ^aid they were willing to go to work 
if they could be located within the company lines where they would 
not be subject to interference or danger, and in order to provide 



30 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 



places for such men, some of the striking occupants of company 
houses were notified that they would have to vacate. At the date 
of this report no attempt has been made to evict with the exception 
of three or four companies who have taken this step for the reasons 
above stated. At the present time no workman has actually been 
evicted. 



Comparative Table of Rents Charged in the Michigan and Butte, 

Montana, Districts. 



Type of House. 



Four rooms with 
small or no cellars. 
These are almost 
the sole type of 
houses available 
for families of 
miners. 

Six room houses. 



Butte. 
On the flat, one to 
two miles from 
city. 



$15.00 to $20.00 
Includes water. 



The few that exist 
are occupied by 
bosses, $28.00. 



In the city. 



$17.00 to 
$24.00 
Includes 
water. 

$30.00 and 
higher. 



Michigan. 



$3.00 for m single 
houses with cel- 
lars. 

$2.50 for 4 room 
double houses 
with cellars. Wa- 
ter included. 

$5.00 with cellars 
includes water. 



of living conditions in the 



Food Costs. Under the headin 
Michigan Copper District and of value when considering the wages 
paid in the Michigan Copper District, will be the following table 
giving the prices of various food stuffs and staple articles. Inasmuch 
as the scale of wages that is demanded by the Western Federation of 
Miners is the scale which is in vogue in the Butte District, Mon- 
tana, a comparison of prices between the Michigan District and the 
Butte District is given. 



Meats. 



Articles. 

Steak, round 

Steak, sirloin .... 
Steak, porterhouse 

Pork chops 

Veal steak, leg. . . . 

Lamb steak 

Roast beef 

Legs lamb 

Hamburger steak 
Pork sausage .... 
Mutton chops . . . 
llib roast beef. . . . 



Mich. Price 


Butte Price 


Butte Price 


Mich. Price. 


Butte Price. 


Per Cent. Excess. 


22c 


28c 


27 


24c 


30c 


25 


25c 


30c 


20 


22c 


25c 


isy 2 


30c 


35c 


16/ 3 


25c 


35c 


40 


24c 


28c 


16K 


25c 


25c 





20c 


25c 


25 


18c 


25c 


38$ 


20c 


25c 


25 


22c 


28c 


27 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 



31 



Groceries. Actual prices of Michigan Copper District, com- 
pared with Butte, Montana, as oi late summer and fall of 1913: 

Butte Price 
Articles. Mich. Trice. Butte Price. Per Cent. Excess. 

Flour. 100 lbs. best $3.00 $375 25 

60 lbs. potatoes (1 bu.) 75 1.05 40 

Eggs, per dozen 28 .40 43 

100 lb. sack -ran. sugar 5.40 6.80 26 

Kerosene oil. per gal .15 .30 100 

Lard. 5 lbs. (Silver Leaf) 75_ .90 20 

Karo syrup, 5 lbs .25 .35 40 

Baked beans, best 10 A2y 2 25 

Navy beans, per lb 06 .08^ 39 

Red Kidney beans, lb 06 .08^ 39 

Premium butter, per 11) 41 .45 9^4 

Barley (Pearl) 05 .08^ 66.67 

Bran.' 100 lbs 1.40 1.50 7.14 

Codfish, per lb 10 \2V 2 25 

Cottolene, 4 lb. tin 60 .70 16^ 

Salmon. 1 lb. can 15 .20 33y 3 

American cheese, per lb .22 .26 18.18 

Molasses, per gal 45 .65 44.44 

English Breakfast Tea. per lb. .50 .60 20 

1 bu. beets 1.00 2.00 100 

Cabbage, 100 lbs 2.75 3.25 18 

Standard Cereals, per pkg 10 .l2 T / 2 25 

Rolled Oats. 5 lb. pkg 25 .35 40 

Tomatoes. 24 cans 2.55 2.75 17 

Standard canned fruits .20 .25 25 

Dry raisins, per lb 10 .12^ 25 

Prunes, per lb 10 X2y 2 25 

Currents, per lb \2y 2 .15 20 

Dates, per 2 lbs 25_ .35 40 

Bananas, per dozen .25 .35 40 

Apples. 1 bu 2.00 3.25 62^ 

Chocolate, Baker's, per lb 40 .50 25 

Pepper, 16 czs 30 .40 33y 3 

Bluing, 1 qt. bottle 10 .15 50 

Average Excess 34.82 

Note. — In Michigan a discount of 2 to 3 per cent, on the prices listed 
above i- given when bill is paid. The Butte prices are taken from a store 
I hat gives no such discount. 

Fuel. 

Butte Price. Mich. Price. 

Articles P r Ton. Per Ton. 

Hard coal $16.00 $8.00to$8.50 

Soft coal 7.00to7.S0 4.50to5.00 

From the above table- it would appear that on a grocery and 

nnat. hill of thirty-five dollars, which is fairly approximate for an 

average miner's hill, there i- a saving in Michigan of twenty-five 

per cent over the Butte prices: in other words, the same articles in 
Butte would cost $8.75 more. 



32 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

The excess in rent of a four room house in Butte over that of 
the Michigan District is about fourteen dollars, or a total difference 
of $22.75, which in an average month of twenty-four shifts amounts 
to a difference of almost one dollar per shift. 

While the charge for medical service in Butte is the same as 
that made by the companies in Michigan, the charge in Michigan 
covers attendance to the family of the miner while the charge in 
Butte does not. 

Welfare Work. The copper mining companies of the Michi- 
gan Copper District have uniformly pursued the policy of attempt- 
ing to look after the welfare of their employees along certain well- 
defined lines. This committee recognizes the fact that there are 
two methods of paying wages used by employers of labor. One 
method, to pay the employee for his day's work, an adequate amount 
of cash and to assume no responsibility whatever for his living con- 
ditions or his welfare when not at work ; the other method is to pay 
the employee for his day's work in cash and in addition thereto to 
assume the responsibility of looking after his well-being and supply- 
ing him and his family with certain conveniences and necessities 
which assist in promoting his health and happiness. This com- 
mittee has nothing whatever to say as to the wisdom of either 
course. The companies operating in the Michigan Copper District 
have uniformly adopted the second policy, that of trying to do more 
or less for the welfare of the employees and their families, and, in- 
asmuch as this must all be taken into consideration when estimating 
the wages to employees, the committee has prepared the following 
data on the welfare work of the various companies. 

Medical Attendance and Hospital Service. All of the com- 
panies operating undertake to provide medical attendance and hos- 
pital service for their employees and their families. A charge of one 
dollar per month for married men s and fifty cents per month for 
single men is made for this service. This service includes the 
attendance of physicians upon the employee and any member of his 
family, as required, the supplying of all medicines and prescriptions 
free of charge, and the use of a company hospital when required. 
This charge also pays for surgical operations for employees or mem- 
bers of their families, whenever necessary. Charges are made by 
the various companies for hospital service after a certain period of 
time at moderate rates. The companies have built and equipped 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 33 

splendid hospitals and have supplied corps of physicians against 

whom no complaint or charge has been made as far as the com- 
mittee has been able to ascertain. Without exception the medical 
attendance and hospital service has gone on to the men on strike 
during the entire time the strike has been on, without charge. At 
the present time a new hospital is being erected at Calumet by the 
Calumet & Heel a Mining Company at an estimated cost of $250,000. 
This hospital is to be equipped with every modern appliance con- 
ducive to efficiency and the comfort of the patients. 

Employees' Aid Fund. At almost all of the mines there have 
been established Employees' Aid bunds, the purpose being to assist 
employees in cases oi injury or sickness. Employees become mem- 
bers by contributing to the fund monthly. The usual charge is fifty 
cents per month. The company administers the fund, usually 
through a committee of the members elected by the members them- 
selves. In some instances, the mining company has donated to the 
fund an amount equal to that contributed by the men. In case of 
disability through sickness or accident, the aid fund pays the mem- 
ber a stated amount, usually one dollar per day, during disability, 
and in case of death, a stated amount is paid to the widow or de- 
pendents. 

In the case of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company and its 
subsidiary companies, the Ahmeek. Allouez, Osceola, Centennial, 
Tamarack. Laurium, La Salle, Isle Royale and Superior Companies, 
the aid fund rules were revised on September 1. 1912 (when the 
Michigan Workmen's Compensation Act went into effect), so as to 
apply only to cases of sickness or injury incurred not in the course 
of employment, and all these companies at that time also incor- 
porated a rule that in case <<\ death from sickness or such injuries, 
tlu- Company would donate two hundred and fifty dollars to the 
widow "l- dependents of the deceased. 

The Calumet & Hecla Minim-; Company is one of the oldest 
companies operating in the district and employs more men than 
any other company. The mine, itself, ha- been the richest that has 
ever operated in the Michigan district. For these reasons the Calu- 
met & Hecla Company has carried out the policy outlined above in 
ird to welfare work to a greater extent than any of the other 
companies. Most of the companies being younger and having less 
profitable territory t<> work have not been able t<« do a- much in the 
way of welfare work as the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company. 



34 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

As the present strike seemed to be centered upon the Calumet & 
Hecla Company and as most of the statements and claims made by 
the strikers have been directed against that company, the committee 
has investigated conditions at the Calumet & Hecla mine to a 
greater extent than at any of the other mines and can give a more 
detailed history of the welfare work carried on by that company. 
Some of the institutions maintained by the Calumet & Hecla Min- 
ing Company are duplicated by the other companies, but a resume 
of welfare work by the Calumet & Hecla Alining Company will give 
a fair idea of the policy of the mining companies in the Michigan 
Copper District. The Calumet & Hecla Mining Company main- 
tains the following institutions for the welfare of the employees. 

Public Library. The company has built a substantial library 
building and equipped it with some thirty-five thousand volumes. 
The books are carefully selected and comprise works in various lan- 
guages and literature which may be of interest to the employees. 
The library is free to any resident of Calumet Township, which 
includes not only the employees of the Calumet & Hecla mine but 
of several other mines, namely, North Kearsarge, South Kearsarge, 
Wolverine, Centennial and Laurium, besides the population in the 
two villages of Red Jacket and Laurium. 

Bath House. The company built at a cost of fifty thousand 
dollars, a modern bath house containing tubs, showers and a swim- 
ming pool twenty-six feet by forty feet. For the use of the bath 
house a charge of two and one-half cents per bath is made, except 
in the case of the women's department, which is free to women and 
also children, who must be accompanied by an adult attendant. The 
charge of two and one-half cents, it is claimed, covers merely the 
cost of washing the towels and in no way compensates for the 
operation of the bath house proper. The bath house is designed in 
two sections to take care of both the men and women of the com- 
munity. 

Pension Fund. In 1904 the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company 
started a pension fund. Certain employees who had attained the 
age of sixty years or more and who had been in the company's em- 
ploy twenty years or more, were retired on a pension proportionate 
to their length of service and their wages. These pensions have 
run from nine dollars per month to thirty-eight dollars per month. 




IB 

w I 
r- I 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 41 

The total amount paid to date is something over eighty-one thou- 
sand dollars. 

Free Fuel Distribution. The Calumet <S: Jleela Mining Com- 
pany has for many years given free wood, upon request, and in 
man\- eases eoal when circumstances justified it, to employees who 
had been unfortunate in any oi man}- different ways, and to any 
with a very large family to support and no income but the man's 
wages, and to the widows and orphans of deceased employees. The 
teaming cost alone (^\ the wood delivered is in the neighborhood of 
one hundred dollars per month. 

Pasturage. Pasturage is furnished free to all employees for 
one cow. and for each additional cow a charge of one dollar per 
month is made. 

Electric Light. The company has a contract with the local 
electric light company whereby employees living in company 
houses are furnished with electricity at a reduced rate, namely, eight 
cents per kilowatt hour, the regular rate being twelve cents per kilo- 
watt hour. This reduction granted to the Calumet & Hecla Mining 
Company is given in consideration for the light company's pole lines 
running over its property. 

Voluntary Relief Fund. In May, 1892, the company initiated 
a voluntary relief fund from which monthly payments to widows 
or orphans of deceased employees who lost their lives from either 
sickness or accident while in the employ of the company, were 
made. The relief fund is started with each widow, whose circum- 
stances seem to require it, shortly after the death of the husband, 
and continues until it is not necessary. Payments have been made 
for as long as twelve years in one case, and in one case over twelve 
hundred dollars had been paid to a widow in less than four years, 
when she remarried. One hundred and eighty widows or orphans 
(only a few of the latter; have been paid from this fund, to date, 
$29, 292.00. 

Churches and Schools. The Calumet & Ilecla Mining Com- 
pany, as well as the other mining companies operating in the dis- 
trict, have donated liberally to the churches in the community. In 

the Calumet district there are some thirty odd churches to which 
the company has contributed the sum of $35,762.00. The companies 



42 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

have also given free sites for all churches on their locations, and in 
Calumet the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company has given a free 
site to the Young Men's Christian Association and has also made a 
donation to the association. 

The Calumet & Hecla Mining Company has built and now 
owns ten school buildings which it rents to the school district at 
Calumet at a moderate rental. It has built and equipped a high 
school and manual training school which is the equal of anything in 
the state. The cost of these school buildings and equipment is in 
excess of $350,000.00 and the rental charged amounts to a trifle over 
three per cent per annum on the investment. Other companies 
operating in the district have assisted in the upbuilding of the 
school system to a proportionate extent. 

The Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, many years ago, 
organized and equipped the Calumet & Hecla band, which has 
almost a nation-wide reputation. During the summer months this 
band gives open-air band concerts in the various mine locations in 
the two counties. 

The Calumet & Hecla Mining Company has built and equipped 
at a cost of $33,398.66, a large armory for the use of the Michigan 
National Guard, which it rents to the state at an annual rental 
amounting to 3 per cent on the investment. 

Club Houses. The committee was shown plans for club houses 
for the employees of various companies which had been determined 
upon long before the strike took place. These club houses are to 
be built for the purpose of giving the men a place in which to spend 
their leisure time and are to be equipped with bowling alleys, read- 
ing rooms, card rooms and meeting halls. The committee has been 
informed that the building of these club houses will go forward 
regardless of the present strike. 

Safety Measures. In the course of the investigation made by 
the committee it was made quite apparent that the managements 
of the different mines have given considerable attention to the prob- 
lem of prevention of accidents. Mining is, of course, a hazardous 
enterprise, and it is a generally accepted fact by those in control of 
the mining industries, that the matter of safeguarding the em- 
ployees is a good and sound business policy. The committee was 
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STRIKE INVESTIGATION 



53 



all degrees, of the importance of taking proper precautions to pre- 
vent accidents. Following are samples of slips which were sent out 
with the pay checks to all employees of a number ol companies at 
different times, impressing upon them the necessity for care and the 
fact that the company desired above all things to make safety the 
first consideration. In addition to this all of the officers and bosses 
are instructed to urge upon them at all times the necessity for keep- 
ing in mind the idea of "Safety First." The committee is convinced 
that the mining companies o\ the copper district of Michigan are 
trying to do everything to make this industry as safe for its em- 
ployees underground as is possible. 



What would it mean to you, and your family, if the hazard 
of accident in your wording place Was reduced by one-half? 

The management and your boss are willing, and trying, to 
do their part. 

You and your fellow-workmen can help a lot to accomplish 
such a condition. 

Think and Act— "SAFETY FIRST." 
Better cause a delay than an accident. 



WHY TAKE A CHANCE? Join the movement for 
"Safety First" today, then note the reduction in accidents. 

Thanf^ the other fellow when he calls your attention to a 
dangerous condition connected with your work, and don' t fail to 
call the attention of your fellow-workmen to the dangers you see. 

Warn everybody and get word to the person whose duty it 
is to Make Safe. Oft times you can maf^e a dangerous 
situation Safe in less time than it takes to tell about it. 

Show an interest in the other fellow's life and limb, and he 
will assist you in safeguarding yours. 



54 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 



Exercise of care to prevent accidents is a duty you 
owe to yourself and your fellow employes. 

Dont hesitate to call attention to defects in or around the 
mine or to the carelessness of fellow-employes. 

Cause a DELAY if you must, 
but not an ACCIDENT, 



The Present Strike. In the early part of July of this year, each 
mining company operating in the district received a notice, of which 
the following is a copy : 

COPPER DISTRICT UNION 

WESTERN FEDERATION OF MINERS. 

Box 217. 

Hancock, Mich., July 14, 1913. 
To the Lake Copper Company, Lake Mine, Ontonagon County, Mich. 
C. K. Hitchcock, Superintendent. 

Gentlemen : Your employees, organized into local unions of the West- 
ern Federation of Miners, have decided by referendum vote to ask that you 
meet their representatives in conference on some day during this month for 
the purpose of discussing the possibilities of shortening the working day, 
raising the wages and making some changes in the working conditions. 

The men working in and around your mines are dissatisfied with wages, 
hours and other conditions of employment. Realizing that as individuals 
they would not have sufficient strength to correct those evils or to lessen 
the burden placed upon them, they have organized into the local unions of 
the W. F. M., and through the local unions they have formed one compact 
body of the whole Copper District with an understanding and hope that 
from now on they may be enabled to sell their labor power collectively, 
with greater advantage for themselves as well as their employers. 

While the men have decided that they must have greater remuneration 
for their services, and that the working day must be shortened, it is not 
their nor our desire that we should have a strike with all the sufferings that 
it is bound to bring to the men, to the employers and to general public. 
On the other hand we earnestly hope that the questions that have arisen 
between us would be settled peacefully with fairness and justice to both 
sides. Should you have the same feelings, we believe that the friendly re- 
lations that have existed between you and your employees in the past will 
continue in the future. 

However, should you follow the example given by some of the most 
stupid and unfair mine owners in the past, the men have instructed us by 
the same referendum vote, to call a strike in all the mines owned and con- 
controlled by your company. 

We deem it unnecessary to set forth the facts and reasons for the 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 55 

demand for higher wages and shorter hours and other things, as we intend 
to do that in the conference, should you be fair enough to meet us. 

We hope you realize that labor ha- just as much right to organize as 
capital, and that these two forces, Labor and Capital, while their interests 
are not identical, must get together and solve the problems that confront 
them. 

We expect to have your answer not later than the 21st of this month. 
It* you agree to meet us, our representatives will be ready for a conference 
on any day and at any place that you may choose; provided that you do not 
set the day any later than the 28th of this month. 

Your failure to answer this letter will be taken as a proof that you 
arc not willing to meet us and to have the matters settled peacefully. 
Hoping to hear from you soon, we remain, 

Respectfully yours, 
(Signed) C. E. HI ETA LA, 

Secretary of Copper District 

Union No. 16 W. F. M. 
DAN SULLIVAN, 
President of Copper District 

Union No. 16 W. F. M. 
All communications should be addressed to C. E. Hietala, Box 217, 
Hancock. Mich. 

From information furnished by the mine managers, it appears 
that none of the mine managers replied to the notice. On the 
twenty-third of July the present strike commenced, when a large 
part of the day shift men at each of the mines did not appear for 
work. The committee, for the sake of completeness, would like to 
be able to give statistics as to the number of men in the employ of 
each company who belonged to the Western Federation of Miners 
at the time the strike was called, and also the number of members 
of the "Western Federation of Miners at each mine who voted in 
favor of the strike. For the reason set out in the beginning of this 
report this information is not forthcoming. Conflicting claims have 
been made by the officials of the Western Federation of Miners and 
tlie mine operators. The officials of the Western Federation of 
Miners claim that a very large percentage of all the men employed 
were members of the union before the strike and voted in Favor of 
tlie strike. — the mine operator- claim that but a small percentage 
were member- of the Western Federation of Miners before the 
strike. 

One of the mine manager-. Mr. Denton of the Copper Range 
1 • - lidated Company, after receiving the notice above mentioned. 
made a poll of the employees of the company and each man was 
asked two questions. One question was, "Are you a member of 
the Western Federation of Miner-?" The second question was, 
"Do you give the Western Federation of Miners the right to repre- 



56 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

sent you in calling a strike?" Out of 2,495 men who answered these 
questions, 171 answered in the affirmative to both questions and 
2,324 answered in the negative to both questions. The results of 
this poll are given by the committee not as determining anything, 
but as a bit of evidence that may be taken for what it is worth. 

At several of the mines, including the Calumet & Hecla, the 
Quincy, the Franklin, the Winona and the Copper Range Consoli- 
dated, many men reported for work on the evening of the twenty- 
third for the night shift, and at some of the mines work continued 
for a day, in one instance for two days after the strike commenced. 
Within two days, however, all underground work had ceased en- 
tirely in practically all the; mines. 

Calling Out of State Troops. The beginning of the strike was 
attended with violence, especially at Calumet, and the Copper 
Range towns. A considerable number of employees and deputy 
sheriffs, who had been sworn in to guard the various properties, 
were assaulted, the entire deputy force of the county was disorgan- 
ized and the sheriff left without an adequate force to cope with the 
situation. These facts are substantiated by the action of the sheriff 
of Houghton county in appealing to the governor of the state for 
the aid of state troops in restoring peace and stamping out lawless- 
ness, which appeal was sent in during the night of July twenty- 
third. On the twenty-fourth, as it was reported to the governor 
that the acts of violence of the night before were continuing, the 
entire Michigan National Guard was ordered to the Copper Coun- 
try. This committee has no hesitation in saying, from its investiga- 
tion and from the personal knowledge of the members of the com- 
mittee, that the governor of the state was absolutely justified in 
dispatching the state troops to the Copper Country at the time 
when he did, and this committee has nothing but words of the 
highest commendation for the prompt action which the governor 
took at that time. 

Pumping Stopped. For some time after the commencement of 
the strike, underground operations of every kind were discontinued 
at the various mines, the pumps were idle and the mines were grad- 
ually being flooded with water. At some of the mines even the 
operation of the fire pumps was stopped, leaving communities with- 
out fire protection. This has been true of Mohawk and Ahmeek. 
At Ahmeek the fire pumps operated by the Ahmeek Mining Com- 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 57 

party afford fire protection to the incorporated village of Ahmeek 
and the location called Copper City. 

The committee docs not undertake to say whether or not any 
of the violence of the early days of the strike can be charged 
directly to the \\ estern federation of Miners. It is undoubtedly 
true, however, that the stopping o\ the pumps in the Ahmeek mine 
was by the order oi the Western Federation oi Miners. This is 
proven by the fact that when it became known that the fire pro- 
tection had ceased in the village of Ahmeek, the superintendent of 
the Ahmeek Mining Company was served with a written permission 
to operate its fire pumps, which was given in the following form : 

(Keweenaw Miners' Union) 
[SEAL] (No. 129 \V. F. M. ) 

(Organized May 25, 1913) 
Ahmeek, Mich., July 26, 1913. 
Mr. S. Russ Smith. Sup't.. Ahmeek, Mich. 

Dear Sir: In behalf of the Western Federation of Miners, you are 
hereby authorized to keep sufficient pumps operating- for the purpose of 
Fire Protection, and the Electric Light Plant running-. In case you de- 
termine that two men are not sufficient you are authorized to hire four (4). 

JOHN DUNNIGAN, 
WILLIAM WILLIAAIS, 
DOLPHUS LITTLE, 
IAMES ROW']-:, 
TAMES PAULL, 
ANTON PECHAUER. 

Committee. 

About the same time the superintendent of the Allouez Mining 
Company, having called upon the sheriff of Keweenaw County for 
protection in guarding or removing some thirty-five thousand 
pounds of dynamite, which were stored in a powder house at 
Allouez, was served with a written permission to remove the same, 
which was given in the following form: 

Ahmeek, Mich., July 2K 1013. 
Mr. Fred Ridley. Ass't Superintendent, Allouez Mining Company, Calumet, 
Michigan. 
Dear Sir: In behalf of the Local Union of the Western Federation of 
Miner-, you an- hereby authorized to employ nun and teams thai may be 
necessary for the removal of the powder from the Allouez Mining Co.'s 
Powder magazine, in Allouez. to some place outside of Keweenaw I 

inifx DUNNIG \\\ 
W. L. WILLI \MS. 
DOLPHUS LITTLE, 
I WILS PAULL, 
L. [AMES ROWE, 
ANTON PECHAUER, 
mmittee of Local Union W. F. M. 



58 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

These facts, at least, indicate that the Western Federation of 
Miners or the Ahmeek Local had some influence in driving away 
the employees of the various mines. 

Strong efforts were made by the different mine managers to 
commence the operation of the underground pumps, and within a 
few days, at several of the mines, the pumps were again going and 
the water was being lowered. However, in some mines the pumps 
have never been permitted to be operated. This is true especially 
of the Mohawk mine. 

Number of Men Now at Work. From the time work was 
first recommenced at some of the mines, the number of men em- 
ployed has gradually increased until at the date of this report, 
October 8, 1913, there are working at the various mines, the follow- 
ing number of men : 

Mine. Total Working. Underground. 

Mohawk 25 

Ahmeek 46 10 

Allouez 40 14 

N. Kearsarge 28 11 

Wolverine 24 3 

S. Kearsarge 72 45 

Centennial 61 26 

Calumet & Hecla 3442 1340 

Tamarack 110 14 

La Salle 23 4 

Franklin 32 2 

Quincy 511 235 

Hancock 38 12 

Isle Royale 101 53 

Superior 68 37 

Copper Range Con 786 263 

Winona 38 10 

Total .' 5445 2079 

Re-Employment of Labor. As the district for some time pre- 
vious to the strike was suffering a shortage of labor, the committee 
is informed that it will be necessary, in order to bring the number 
of employees up to the normal force, to give employment to con- 
siderable more men than were working on the day before the strike. 
A few of the companies are at the present time taking into their 
employment outside labor which is coming into the district. This, 
however, to a limited extent. For some time previous to the strike 
there existed a shortage of labor in the Copper Country. It is 
estimated from figures obtained at the various mines that they were 
operating with about 1,500 men short of normal force. In addition 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 59 

to this, it is estimated, that when the strike commenced, fully 
men left the district, and, therefore, as nearly as the com- 
mittee can ascertain from the various mine managers, if the men on 
strike desire to go back to work, there will be plenty of opportunity 
for them to obtain their old positions. This statement is made with 
the reservation, however, that the various managers declare that 
the}- will not re-employ certain of their old employees who have 
taken part in any violence or criminal action during the days of 
the strike. 

Imported Guards. As many charges have been made that the 
mine managers have imported strike breakers and gun men, also 
known as Waddell men. to break the strike, the committee thought 
it wise to investigate this feature and as a result of that investiga- 
tion present the following facts. 

The first outside men employed in the strike district were em- 
ployed by the sheriff of Houghton County, with the approval of the 
Hoard of Supervisors. These men were employed through the 
Waddell-Mahon agency, and the committee is informed by the 
sheriff that the reason for the employment of these men was as 
follows: At the beginning of the strike the entire deputy force of 
the county was disorganized and practically disbanded. There were 
few deputy sheriffs who were of any use in enforcing the law. It 
became necessary to organize, in the quickest possible time, this 
force of deputies in such a way as to make it effective. As time was 
important, the sheriff employed certain experienced men to under- 
take the work of organizing the deputy force. At Calumet fottr 
men were located who took charge of the force of deputies and 
within a short time brought order out of chaos. One or two men 
were stationed at each locality to act in conjunction with local 
deputies. A certain number of these men were stationed, at the 
request of citizens, by the sheriff, at places in the various villages, 
such as banks and newspaper offices. The largest number of these 
men employed by the sheriff at any one time was fifty-two. At this 
time none of the mining companies had employed any outside men 
of any kind. Later on during the strike, when a removal of a 
portion of the troops was undertaken, some of the companies hired 
a few of these men to act with the local deputies in guarding their 
properties. Hie Copper Range Consolidated Company has em- 
ployed from time to time some of these men, the largesl number at 



60 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

any time being thirty-two. The Quincy Mining Company has em- 
ployed from time to time some of these men, the largest number at 
any time being twenty-eight. The Calumet & Hecla mine and its 
subsidiaries, the Hancock, the Mohawk, the Wolverine, the Frank- 
lin and the Winona have not employed any of the so-called Wad- 
dell men. Within the last week the Ahmeek Mining Company em- 
ployed twenty-five men from another agency to act as mine guards, 
the Ahmeek Mining Company being situated in Keweenaw county 
where at the time of this report there had been no organization of 
the local deputies and where it became necessary to employ outside 
guards if operations were to be commenced. 

The above facts in regard to the men employed by the sheriff 
of Houghton county, are taken from the records of the sheriff of 
Houghton County, and of the supervisors' meetings of Houghton 
county. The facts in regard to the number of men employed by the 
mining companies are given as stated by the managers of the 
various companies, and as shown by the pay-rolls of the various 
companies. At the present time there are in the employ of the 
sheriff of Houghton County, thirty-one men from outside agencies. 

Injunction. On the twentieth day of September a bill of in- 
junction was filed by the mining companies against the Western 
Federation of Miners and all of its members, in the Circuit Court 
for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. At the same time an application 
was made to the Circuit Judge for a temporary injunction. This 
injunction was issued and, in brief, restrained the Western Federa- 
tion of Miners, the various local unions and all of their members 
from in any manner interfering with, molesting or disturbing work- 
men in the employ of the companies or those who might desire to 
work, by way of threats, personal violence or intimidation, from 
picketing in and about the vicinity of the mines, from interfering 
with free access of employees from their homes to the mines and 
the free return to their homes, from gathering and parading in 
large numbers in the vicinity of the mines during the morning and 
evening hours when employees are going to or returning from 
their work. 

Previous to the time the injunction was issued, it was custo- 
mary for the strikers to parade at the various mining locations dur- 
ing the early morning hours when the workmen were going to their 
work, and a number of clashes had taken place in the streets of the 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 61 

various villages and mining locations. The state troops were on 
duty at these places during the hours when the parades took place 
and undoubtedly prevented the greater portion of the rioting and 

lawlessness. Numerous arrests had been made but very few cases 
had been brought to trial and of those brought to trial but a very 
limited number had resulted in convictions. After the injunction 
was issued there ensued a period of comparative quiet as it appeared 
that the injunction was very generally obeyed. With a few excep- 
tions the early morning clashes between the strikers and non-strik- 
ers was done away with and the community had assumed, to some 
extent at least, the aspect of having- some respect for law and order. 
Application was immediately made by the Western Federation of 
Miners, through its attorneys, for the dissolution of the injunction, 
and on Monday, the twenty-ninth of September, the matter was 
brought on for hearing and the injunction was dissolved. With the 
dissolution of the injunction the rioting and lawlessness of former 
days was repeated with increased vigor. Parades and picketing were 
resumed and in Keweenaw County, where the Allouez, Ahmeek and 
Mohawk mines are located, a state of lawlessness broke out which 
absolutely baffled the civil authorities. 

Necessity for Troops in Strike Zone at Present Time. On 
Monday evening a railroad train, conveying men to the Ahmeek 
mine, was attacked by rioters and stones and many shots were fired 
and the train was compelled to run back to Calumet without deliver- 
ing the men. The men were sent to Ahmeek on Tuesday morning 
at an earl}' hour in automobiles. The distance from Calumet to 
Ahmeek is about seven miles. The distance from Allouez to the 
Ahmeek Location where the men were delivered, is two miles. 
Between these two points the automobiles were fired upon, both 
on their way down and also on the way back when empty ex- 
cept for the chauffeurs. On Wednesday morning, at an early 
hour, an automobile, containing f (lll r men who were going <m 
a hunting trip, ran through a fusillade of shots on the way from 
Allouez to Ahmeek, man}- of which lodged in the car and some of 
which struck the occupants of the car, without, however, doing them 
much damage. 

The sheriff of Keweenaw County called a special meeting of 
the Board of Supervisors for the purpose of ascertaining what might 
be done in order to cope with the situation. As a result of the meet- 
ing a message was sent to the governor of the state informing him 



62 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

of the state of affairs in Keweenaw County and appealing to him 
for help. Additional troops were dispatched from Houghton County 
to Ahmeek at once, and at the present time the militia seem to have 
the situation in hand. 

On Monday morning, the sixth of October, an employee of the 
Ahmeek Company, while on his way to work, was stopped by ten 
men and requested to show his union book. On replying that he 
had no book one of the men attempted to take hold of him and he 
broke away and ran. As he was running he was fired upon twice, 
the second shot taking effect and passing through his hip. As he 
fell the ten men ran away, leaving him lying on the ground. 

These instances are given by the committee merely as an indi- 
cation of the situation in the Copper Country and as tending to 
show the necessity for the presence of the Michigan National Guard 
in the first instance, and the absolute necessity of maintaining at 
least a portion of the National Guard in the strike district at the 
present time. 

Conduct of Troops. In connection with the foregoing the com- 
mittee wishes to emphasize its approval of the action of the gover- 
nor of the state in keeping the state troops in the Copper Country 
during the strike, and takes occasion at this point in its report to 
commend most highly the efficiency of the National Guard and the 
conduct of the men and officers stationed in the mining district. Re- 
ports to the contrary notwithstanding, the conduct of both men and 
officers has been exemplary and the committee feels that the state 
of Michigan can feel proud of the men of the National Guard who 
have done service in the Copper District during the present strike. 

Action by Civil Authorities. Without any intention of unduly 
criticising the civil authorities of either county, the committee still 
feels that the action of at least a portion of the county officers leaves 
much to be desired. In many instances, after serious rioting, no 
arrests whatever have been made. With all the disturbance and use 
of firearms that has gone on in Keweenaw County during the last 
week, as far as the committee has been able to ascertain, not one 
arrest has been made. In Houghton county, while many arrests 
have been made, the results, as far as any influence on the suppres- 
sion of lawlessness is concerned, have amounted to nothing. Dur- 
ing the course of the strike there have been many arrests made. Of 
the number arrested, but a few have been tried. Some five or six 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 63 

have been found guilty, and of the remainder man)- eases have been 
dismissed and many cases are still pending. In most every instance, 

those arrested have been released on a moderate bail and in a num- 
ber oi instances persons have been arrested two or three times and 
released each time on a moderate bail. The committee states these 
facts not as a direct criticism of the officers but as further tending 
to show the inability of the civil authorities to handle the situation 
and the necessity for maintaining' the National Guard in the strike 
district. 

Labor Conditions. The committee, in addition to investigating 
the facts relative to living conditions in the copper district, the his- 
tory of the strike and the necessity for maintaining the troops and 
other data hereinbefore given, have gathered considerable data in 
regard to the various demands and grievances upon which the 
Western Federation of Miners seems to have based the strike. No 
definite demand, outside of the notice served upon the various com- 
panies, as given hereinbefore, has been at any time made upon any 
of the companies setting out the particular grievances or the living 
or labor conditions which it is sought to remedy by this strike. 
However, from the public prints, from talks with the various per- 
sons belonging to the union and from the pages of the official sheet 
of the Western Federation of Miners, the "Miners' Bulletin," the 
committee has ascertained that the following demands and griev- 
ances constitute the basis upon which the strike is being carried on. 

Demands. 

1. A demand for the recognition of the Western Federation of 
Miners. 

2. A demand for either the abolishment of the one-man drill 
or the working of two men on each drill. 

3. A demand for a minimum wage of three dollars for tram- 
mers and three dollars and fifty cents for miners. 

4. A demand for an eight-hour working day. 

Grievances. 

1. The claim that men arc not treated with justice and decency 
by the petty bo-.-es employed in the mine-. 

2. That the men have no adequate way of presenting griev- 
ances to the various mining managers without incurring the dis- 



64 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

pleasure of the minor bosses and undergoing discrimination and 
possible discharge for making complaints. 

The committee has tried to investigate and ascertain the facts, 
as far as they can be obtained, with relation to the foregoing de- 
mands and grievances, and presents the same herewith. 

1. Recognition of the Western Federation of Miners. This has 
already been touched upon in the first part of this report. The 
record of the Western Federation of Miners upon which the mine 
managers base their refusal to treat with that organization, is a 
matter of history which the committee can not elaborate upon. 
Whether the mine managers are justified in the stand they have 
taken relative to recognition of this organization is one which must 
be left to public opinion. The fact remains, and the committee is 
thoroughly convinced of this, that the mine managers of the Copper 
Country District of Michigan will not recognize the Western Fed- 
eration of Miners and therefore any further discussion of that 
subject would be useless. 

2. The One-Man Drill. It is claimed by the Western Fed- 
eration of Miners and its members that the one-man drill, so-called, 
has placed a burden upon the miners in the copper mines of 
Michigan which is not commensurate with the wages paid. In 
this connection, in order to clarify the situation, it may be stated 
that drilling originally was done by hand. The purpose of the 
drill in mining work is to drill holes into which the powder is 
afterwards charged for blasting. In the early days of mining this 
work was done by two or more men, one of the men holding the 
drill while other men acted as strikers. As the mining industry 
developed, a power drill was introduced which was operated by two 
men. The introduction of the first powder drill operated by two 
men met with the same resistance which is now being offered to 
the one-man drill. The claim was made that it would put a great 
many men out of employment, which same claim is also made at 
the present time in reference to the one-man drill. 

It may be stated generally that in the Lake Superior Copper 
District the average copper contents of the rock decreases with 
depth. This has been the history of the district and the cost of 
mining increases proportionately with depth. As has been shown 
briefly in this report by tables, the Michigan Copper mines are 
operating with rock carrying lower copper contents than the other 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 65 

copper mining districts of the United States, and the Michigan 
copper mines are operating at greater depth and consequently at 

greater cost than the other copper mines of the United States. In 
order to compete with the other copper districts of the United 
States, the above facts have made it absolutely imperative that the 
mines oi Michigan should be operated with the closest economy. 

The committee believes that the tables, hereinafter given, of wages 
paid in the Michigan Copper District will demonstrate the fact that 
the operators in Michigan have attempted to practice their greatest 
economy in the way of improved machinery and equipment and the 
greatest step that has been made in this direction in recent years is 
the installation of the one-man drill. The standpoint of the opera- 
tors in regard to the one-man drill can not be given any more 
clearly than in epioting from a statement made by the superin- 
tendent of one of the mines, as follows: 

"The necessity for further close economy in the operation of 
our mines forced ns to go into the market for a more efficient 
drilling machine and, if possible, a machine that could be operated 
with one man, as compared with two, which was standard practice. 
After about eighteen months of experimenting we adopted onr 
present machine. Our intention was to divide the benefits accruing 
to us from the use of the one-man machine with the men. This 
benefit to take the form of higher wages to machine operators 
(called miners). That we have carried out this plan is shown by 
the following table, which shows the increase in wages to the men 
operating one-man drills over wages made when operating two- 
men drills. 

Comparative Statistics on One-Man Drill and Two-Man Drill Calumet & 
Hecla and Subsidiary Mines for Year Ending December 31, 1912. 

Av. Wa^c 
Shifts. Amt. Rec'd. Supplies. Total. Per Shift. 

Two-man drill. .350.012 $1,024,801.84 $291,526.14 $1,316,327.98 $2.83 
One-man drill... 54.758 193.935.81 94.058.24 287,994.05 3.34 

The miners' wages largely depend upon the efficiency of the 
man, as our work is all on the bonus system and is so arranged 
that increased efficiency is of mutual benefit to the employer and 
the employee. We have a fixed contract which is not cut as the 
efficiency of the employee increases. Tt is also one of our rules that 
in case a man does not make what we call a fair rate he is paid off 
at a rate of not less than sixty-five dollars per month, but this ruling 
affects a very small portion of our employees. In fact, for the 



66 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

month of June this year it was not necessary to use this minimum 
wage for a single employee. The one-man drill has resulted in a de- 
cided increase in efficiency, which, with further experience, will in- 
crease and will result in not only lower costs but in higher wages to 
the men. What is more, the drill is popular with the good miners 
and any sentiment against it is made from without. Any attempt to 
return to the two-man drill would be a backward step in industrial 
progress and would work untold hardship to this district in its 
competition with other copper producing districts. It is as little 
to be thought of as the elimination of any other labor saving 
device. If copper mining in Michigan is to be a progressive and 
permanent institution, we must shape our methods now to be able 
to work deposits of a still lower grade than have been worked up 
to the present time, and the one-man drill and the further possible 
increase in the efficiency along this line is the most important step 
now before us." 

This committee, in order to understand the drill and its work- 
ings, inspected the drill at work underground in four of the mines. 
The members of the committee talked to men operating it. They 
operated it themselves, they saw the drill taken down and set up. 
The committee talked to a number of miners who were operating 
the one-man drill, and in no case found any specific objection to 
its use. In a few instances the men claimed that it was difficult to 
set up in some places but the committee found that it is a practice 
among the miners for one man to help another whenever necessary. 
The one-man drill operators interviewed invariably admitted that 
they are making more money on the one-man drill than they were 
on the two-man drill, and not in a single instance did the com- 
mittee find a man that would give up his one-man drill to go back 
to the two-man drill. The committee found in some cases men 
who said that two men should be on the drill, but when requested 
for their reasons and asked of what assistance the second man 
would be in operating the drill, they were unable to give any 
except that the assistance would be given to set up the drill in 
the morning and to take it out of the way before blasting. The 
committee on one of its trips underground saw one man set up his 
drill in nine minutes, but from what the committee has been able 
to ascertain, the average time required by miners to make their 
places of work safe by barring dows k/Gse mvk, preparing the 




The One-Man Drill 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 69 

place for the drill and setting- up the drill seems to be about one 
and one-half hours. 

The claim has also been made to the committee that a great 
many men would be thrown out of work by the adoption of this 
drill, but mining men and engineers in this particular district claim 
that the installation of this one-man drill will permit mining com- 
panies to work poorer ground than has ever before been handled in 
the district and that instead of throwing miners out of employment 
it will create a demand for more miners. 

On its trips underground the committee took occasion to 
ascertain whether or not the mining companies were operating in 
accordance with the law passed at the recent session of the Legis- 
lature in reference to the one-man drill, namely: the act providing 
that men operating these machines should not be stationed more 
than one hundred and fifty feet from the place where other em- 
ployees were at work, and the committee found, as a matter of 
fact, that the mining companies generally were operating in accord- 
ance with this act. 

From its investigation the committee lias concluded that the 
cue-man drill in this district is an economic necessity and that the 
mining companies operating in the district will insist on continuing 
its use. 

The drill shown in the illustration is the type of one-man drill 
known as the Leyner-Ingersoll machine, which is coming into gen- 
eral use. This drill differs in principle from the two-man drilling 
machine in that it is not a reciprocating machine. In the two-man 
drilling machine the drill itself is pulled back and driven against 
the rock by the power, while in the one-man drilling machine the 
drill is forced into the rock by an air-actuated hammer which strikes 
directly on the end of the drill while the drill itself is being rotated 
by a rotary mechanism which is a part of the machine. In operat- 
ing the two-man drill, water is thrown into the drill hole with a can, 
while in operating the one-man drill, water is fed into the hole 
through trie hollow drill, which results in the drill hole being 
washed out all the time and insures the drill striking directly upon 
the rock. The average weight of the two-man drilling machine is 
290 pounds, that of the one-man drilling machine is 150 pounds. 

The committee made some inquiry as to how the one-man drill 
is received by miner- in other copper districts, especially the Bisbee 
district of Arizona, and quotes herewith from a letter received by it 



70 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

under date of September 29, 1913, from one of the mining engineers 
of the property of the Calumet & Arizona mine : 

"The company has in operation at the present time 100 one- 
man drills, which is 90 per cent of the total number of drills now in 
development work. Sixty-five of these drills were purchased dur- 
ing the last four months. The miners have no complaints to make 
relative to these drills and in the majority of cases prefer these to 
any larger drill. The one-man drill will no doubt replace all other 
larger drills in the near future. I cannot understand why the Michi- 
gan miners should object to the drill when the Bisbee miners can 
find no fault whatever." 

3. Minimum Wage. From the tables and information given 
in the earlier part of this report, showing the varying conditions at 
the different mines, the contrast in the copper contents per ton of 
rock mined by the different companies, the costs of mining in the 
different mines, it is apparent that a general minimum scale of 
wages applied to all of the mines of the Michigan Copper District 
cannot be put into effect without working injustice both to the 
operator and to the employee. The injustice to the operator comes 
in the fact, as demonstrated, that those companies which are now 
operating at a loss and those companies which will operate at a loss 
at the average price of copper, will either have to be able to operate 
at a greater loss or close down their mines. Several of the com- 
panies now operating, if the minimum wage demanded by the 
Western Federation of Miners went into effect, would have to go 
out of business and cause, of course, the throwing out of employ- 
ment of a great many men. On the other hand, a uniform scale of 
wages, doing away with the contract system among the miners and 
trammers, would work hardship upon a large body of the employees 
who now earn wages in excess of the scale advocated by the West- 
ern Federation of Miners. 

The real question, of course, is whether or not the men work- 
ing in the copper industry of Michigan are being paid an adequate 
wage for the work which they perform. If a company cannot 
operate and pay its employees a living wage that company should 
cease operations. 

The Contract System. The contract system which is in vogue 
in the Copper Country has existed for a great many years. The 
chief objection to it is the objection made by some of the men that 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 71 

under the system there are months when the}' do not obtain enough 
pay to afford them a living. The committee investigated this Fea- 
ture as fully as it was able to do without having the specific com- 
plaints of all of the men before it. The committee investigated all 
cases presented to it of men who claimed to have worked an entire 
month on contract without having made adequate wages because 
of po»>r ground or hard luck, and found that in some instances the 
docket or pay check for cue mouth would seem to bear out their 
claim, but, on taking an average of six months or twelve months it 
was invariably found that the average pay made was considerably 
higher than the one month submitted to the committee. Contracts 
are let for periods of two or three months by the mines and, whereas 
in some instances during the first month the pay made by the men 
was comparatively small, when the three months are taken together 
and averaged the pay amounts to a considerably higher figure. The 
advantages of the contract system, as claimed by the mine opera- 
tors and by man}' of the men, are that it affords the efficient miner 
or trammer an opportunity to make good pay and gives him a 
chance to increase his own efficiency and increase his compensation 
in proportion thereto. 

In examining the pay rolls of the various companies and tabu- 
lating the same, the committee found that there was a wide dis- 
crepancy in the wages paid to the various classes of labor in the 
various mines. The wages paid by some of the companies average 
considerably higher than the wages paid at some of the other mines, 
one of the reasons for this, of course, being the fact that, as before 
stated, the richer mines in the district can afford to pay higher 
wages. Other reasons are the facts that in some of the mines the 
work is carried on at a greater depth and, in some instances, under 
more unfavorable conditions than at some of the more shallow 
mines. The fact that this discrepancy exists also seems to bear out 
the statement that there has been no combination or concerted 
action among the various mine managers of the district, and the 
committee is informed that previous to this report, there have been 
no comparative tables made of the wages paid by the various com- 
panies. The table- of wages paid that are given herewith have been 
carefully prepared from the pay roll- of the different companies and 
have been checked and verified by members of the committee, in 
order to make them authentic and in accordance with the exact 
facts. 



72 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

At various times in the last ten years the companies have in- 
creased the pay to employees on their own initiative. The last 
general raise in wages was made on May i, 1912. At this time the 
Calumet & Hecla Mining Company and its subsidiaries made a 
general increase amounting to ten per cent on all day wages. The 
other companies at the same time raised wages in about the same 
proportion. The wage tables given are tables of wages after making 
all deductions for material such as powder, fuse, caps, oils and car- 
bide, and is the net pay that went to the men. 

The first table gives the number of shifts worked and earnings 
of miners and trammers in the various copper mines of the district 
for a period of six months from January first to June thirtieth, 1913. 



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74 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

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76 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

In connection with the above tables of wages applying to 
miners and trammers, it may be said, as a matter of enlightenment, 
that the tables apply only to underground workers who are gen- 
erally divided into the two classes, the miners and trammers. The 
miners are the men who operate the drills and handle the blasting 
and breaking down of the rock. The trammers load the rock into 
the tram cars and see that it is conveyed to the shafts, where it 
is hoisted to the surface. The work of the trammer is the work 
of an ordinary laborer, requiring no special skill. 

Tramming. The conditions under which trammers work in the 
various mines differ to a great extent. In some mines where a 
large amount of rock is to be taken out from one level, it has been 
possible to install electric tramming, which means that the work of 
the trammer consists in loading the cars, which are then hauled 
to the shaft by electric motors. In other mines where only a 
limited amount of rock is taken out at each level it has been 
impracticable to establish power tramming and the cars are pushed 
to the shaft by the trammers. The problem of lightening the work 
of loading and pushing tram cars has been one that has caused con- 
siderable trouble. The average car trammed by two men holds two 
and one-half tons of rock. The distance which it is required 
that trammers push the car varies, at different levels in the various 
mines, from fifty feet to distances of fifteen or sixteen hundred 
feet. The cars are of various types and trammers can be found 
who insist that each particular kind of car is the best. All the cars 
run on steel rails and the levels and the tracks are graded with 
a down grade toward the shaft in favor of the loaded car. The 
number of cars required to be taken out by men who work on 
day's pay varies with the varying conditions and the distances 
to be trammed. 

Loading conditions also vary. In some cases the tram cars are 
loaded by shoveling from the floor of the drift, in some places 
they are loaded from chutes, and wherever possible a loading plat- 
form or sollar is constructed level with the top of the car so that the 
work of loading is minimized. In some instances the men push the 
cars a short distance, from which point the cars are hauled by 
electric or cable haulage. The tramming is done in many cases 
by contract and a comparison of the pay made by trammers work- 
ing on day's pay with those working on contract shows that con- 
tract trammers make by far the biggest wages. At the same time 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 77 

they accomplish more work, and it has been found that the contract 
trammer who makes the biggest pay is also the best man for the 
operator. Contract trammers in the mines from which the com- 
mittee has been able to obtain statisties tram on an average of 
twenty-one tons, while trammers working on company account 
or day's pay average from twelve to fourteen tons. 

In the Calumet and llecla Mine and its subsidiaries contract 
tramming is encouraged, as it is claimed that it results in higher 
wages, cheaper tramming and a much better class of trammers. 
As an illnstration, at the Calnmet & Hecla Amygdaloid mine, 
where the tramming is entirely done by contract, the trammers' 
wages for the month of June, 1913, averaged $3.34 per shift as com- 
pared to $2.56 paid to trammers on day's pay. 

Savings Deposits. As bearing upon the adequacy of w r ages 
paid and general living conditions in the Michigan Copper District, 
the committee was able to obtain some information as to the 
amount of the savings deposits in the banks of Houghton and 
Keweenaw counties and found that at the time of the last bank 
statement made on June 4, 1913, savings deposits amounted to 
$ >_?6,414.15. In addition to this there should be taken into con- 
sideration the savings invested in three Building & Loan Associa- 
tions doing business in Houghton County. 

4. The Demand for an Eight-Hour Shift. The problem of 
working hours for underground employees in the mines of Mich- 
igan seems to be one of the hardest to solve. In other industries 
where work is performed on surface and is not complicated by the 
necessity for conveying the men to and from their work, the eight- 
hour proposition is, in most instances, merely one of dollars and 
cents. When applied to work underground many complications 
and problems creep in which make it hard to establish a uniform 
rule. It is conceded, even by the men who are now otit on strike, 
that underground employees of the mines in Michigan do not 
actually work more than eight hours a shift, hut it is claimed that 
the hour- from the time the men leave the surface until they are 
returned to the surface amounts to ten or more hours out of 
the day. 

In other mining districts where operations are conducted nearer 
the surface and under totally different conditions, it lias been found 
practicable to put into effect a so-called eight-hour shift. In mam- 



78 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

of these mines the copper deposits lie in the shape of a blanket 
deposit and men are lowered to a certain depth in the mine from 
which all operations are carried on. 

In the Michigan mines the copper deposits lie in a vein dipping 
from the surface and operations are carried on at many different 
levels, necessitating the lowering of men to different distances in 
the mine and, of course, returning them from different levels. 
Added to this is the immense depth of Michigan mines as com- 
pared to other mines, all of which makes the time of lowering the 
men to their work and bringing them back to surface probably 
longer than in any other mining district. There also enters into 
this problem the necessity for keeping skips, or cars by which rock 
is hoisted out of the mine, in operation for a long enough period to 
hoist the rock broken by the miners ; in other words, the time taken 
up in hoisting and lowering men deducts just that much time from 
the period during which rock can be hoisted. 

As a matter of safety men are lowered in the mine at certain 
fixed hours in the beginning of the shift and are brought back to 
surface at certain fixed hours at the end of the shift. During these 
hours no rock is hoisted. Every precaution is taken by the com- 
panies in the hoisting and lowering of men. Special cages are 
put on for their use and in some of the mines special cables are used. 
The cages containing the men, which carry only a limited number, 
(the most lowered at one time being about thirty), are run at a 

moderate rate of speed which is made necessary by the immense 
depth of the mines. It should be borne in mind that at some of the 
deeper workings of the Calumet & Hecla mine the men are lowered 
on an incline shaft for a distance of a mile and one-half. The length 
of these shafts makes it imperative that great care should be taken 
in their upkeep and maintenance, and as an illustration of their care 
it may be stated that in the Calumet & Hecla mine some three hun- 
dred men are employed solely on shaft work in keeping the shafts 
in repair and in working condition. 

The committee has tried to ascertain the facts as to the length 
of time that men are underground on each shift in the various 
mines, how much time is required in lowering the men and how 
much time is required in bringing them to surface, and presents the 
following data which is fairly accurate. 

It must be borne in mind that in the deeper mines, although the 

men quit work underground at about the same time, a great num- 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 79 

ber of them are hoisted to surface at the same shaft and with the 
same cage and consequently it is necessary that some of the men 
wait their turn to get on the cage and be taken to surface, which 
means that considerable time elapses between tlit time they stop 
work and reach the surface over and above the actual time taken 
to hoist them. Under the system used by most of the mines, the 
men who are lowered first in the beginning of the shift are given 
the privilege oi coming- out first at the end of the shift. 



& 



Length of Shift and Time Underground. In the following 
data the length oi the shift includes the time allowed for going 
from the surface to the working place and the time returning; in 
ether words, it is the time during which the men are actually under- 
ground and also includes one hour which is given to the men for 
luncheon. 

At The Mohawk Mine the average length of the shift is ten 
hours. The time consumed each way in going to and from their 
work is from fifteen to thirty minutes. 

The Ahmeek Mine. The length of the shift is approximately 
ten hours and fifteen minutes, the time consumed in going to and 
from work each way is about eight minutes. 

The Allouez Mine. The length of the shift is ten hours and 
twenty minutes. The time consumed in going to and from work 
each way is about fifteen to twenty minutes. 

The Osceola Mine. The length of the shift is ten hours and 
fifteen minutes. The time consumed in taking the men from the 
surface to the working place requires from fifteen to thirty minutes, 
depending on depth of shaft and distance from working place. From 
the time the men quit working to the time they arrive at surface at 
the end of the shift consumes from twenty-five to sixty minutes. 

The Wolverine Mine. The length of the shift is ten hours and 
fifteen minutes. The time consumed in going to and from work 
each way is about fifteen to twenty minutes. 

The Centennial Mine. The length of the shift is ten hours and 
twenty minutes. The time consumed in going to ami from work 
each way is about ten to twenty minutes. 



80 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

The Calumet & Hecla Mine. The length of the shift is ten 
hours and thirty minutes. In the case of the conglomerate mine, 
where all the blasting is of necessity done at one time, namely, at 
the end of the shift, and where the depths are so great that it takes 
considerable time to hoist a cage load of thirty men, the time re- 
quired in going down to work, waiting for the cage, and returning 
to surface is approximately one hour and forty-five minutes. In the 
case of the Amygdaloid mine the time required in getting down to 
the working place and in returing to the surface is about thirty-five 
minutes. 

The Tamarack Mine. The length of the shift is ten hours and 
fifteen minutes. The time consumed in going to and from work 
each way is about one-half hour. 

The Laurium Mine. The length of the shift is ten hours. The 
time consumed in going to and from work each way is about ten 
minutes. 

The Oneco Mine. The length of the shift is nine hours. The 
time consumed in going to and from work each way is about five 
minutes. 

The La Salle Mine. The length of the shift is ten hours. The 
time consumed in going to and from work each way is about ten 
minutes. 

The Franklin Mine. The length of the shift is nine hours. The 
time consumed in going to and from work each way is about 
fifteen to thirty minutes. 

The Hancock Mine. The length of the shift is nine hours. The 
time consumed in going to and from work each way is about ten 
minutes. 

The Quincy Mine. The length of the shift is nine hours. The 
time consumed in going to and from work each way is about thirty 
minutes. 

The Superior Mine. The length of the shift is ten hours and 
twenty minutes. The time consumed in going to and from work 
each way is about ten minutes. 

The Isle Royale. The average length of the shift is nine hours 
and forty-eight minutes for miners and nine hours and fifty-five 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION SI 

minutes for other underground laborers. The time consumed in 

going to and from work each way is about five to fifteen minutes. 

The Copper Range Mines. In the ordinary shift all men start 
underground at seven o'clock A. M. and start back at four forty-five 
F. M.. having one hour at noon for lunch. The time consumed in 
descending and ascending is from fifteen to thirty minutes. 

The Winona. The length of the shift is nine hours. The time 
consumed in going to and from work each way is about fifteen 
minutes. 

Three Shifts. It is impracticable in the mines of the copper 
district of Michigan to work three eight-hour shifts, this for various 
reasons, one reason being the fact that it takes so much time to 
1< >wer the men to work and to bring them back to surface, another 
reason being that at the end of the day's work when the miners 
blast their holes, a period of from one to two hours must elapse 
before men can work in the same place again because of the gases 
which are generated by the explosions. 

In some of the mining districts of the United States, notably 
the Butte district, the men work an eight-hour shift, going to their 
work on their own time but being brought to surface on the com- 
pany's time. In the mines in Michigan no attempt has heretofore 
been made to inaugurate any kind of an eight-hour shift. 

The Saturday Shift. The committee interviewed quite a num- 
ber of men in order to get their ideas as to what they wanted in the 
way of an eight-hour shift and found that the men were not at all 
unanimous in their wishes. Under the present system there exists 
a custom which was put into effect in the earlier days of the copper 
mining industry in Michigan, which a great many of the men would 
not like to see done away with. Miners working on the day shift 
work only until noon on Saturday and then do not go to work until 
the following Monday night, when they start in the night shift for 
that week This gives them Saturday afternoon, all of Sunday and 
all of Monday. Miners working on the night shift finish their 
week's work when they come to the surface on Saturday morning. 
They do not work Saturday night, nor Sunday night, but commence 
the foil*. wing week'- work on Monday morning when they go on 
day shift for that week. In all of the mines it is customary to pay 
the miners on day shift who work only five and one-half shifts for 



82 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

six full shifts. The mines in Michigan have never operated on Sun- 
day and it seems to be well understood among the men that if an 
eight-hour shift is inaugurated that it will mean a full Saturday 
shift for the miners. The result of the above custom is that miners 
in a month of twenty-six working days work only twenty-three 
shifts and are paid for twenty-four shifts. The wage tables, above 
given, are based on twenty-four shifts. If based on twenty-three 
shifts or the time actually worked, the figures would be proportion- 
ately higher. 

It has been stated by the various mine managers, to the rep- 
resentative of the governor who was here, that the establishment 
of an eight-hour shift has been under consideration for some time. 
On account of the problems hereinbefore mentioned it will be im- 
possible to put it in force in a short period of time, but in any event 
it seems to be extremely doubtful as to whether or not an eight- 
hour shift will meet with universal favor among the men. 

Treatment of Men by Petty Bosses. In regard to the com- 
plaint that was made by some of the men of the treatment by 
petty bosses, it may be said that this complaint is a general com- 
plaint which is bound to exist in any industry which requires the 
number of petty bosses that are required in the mining industry. 
It may be taken for granted that no mine manager wants his under 
bosses to mistreat his men, and the solution of this problem lies in 
providing an adequate method by which men can present their 
grievances to the management. It is claimed by some of the men 
that they dare not make complaints against a petty boss without 
incurring the displeasure of that boss and running the chance of 
losing their jobs. It is undoubtedly true that some of the bosses 
who are promoted from the ranks are not competent to handle the 
men under them. It is undoubtedly also true that many of the 
complaints that are now heard against under bosses arise out of 
feelings of jealousy and personal grudge, and can not be adjusted 
in a general way, but can only be taken up in individual cases and 
sifted to find the truth. The committee believes that all of the 
mine managers of the Copper District would willingly adjust any 
legitimate complaint against any of the minor bosses, if brought to 
their attention. 

Access to Management. As to the presentation of grievances, 
the committee finds the fact to be that many of the men feel they 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 83 

have no way oi getting to the men in authority who could adjust 
their grievances. This problem is one largely of reassuring men 
of the fact that they may go freely to their employers and present 
their grievances and troubles without incurring discrimination. 
Heretofore in the district this has been accomplished at times by 
committees in the ease of general grievances, and at times by the 
individual making a personal visit to the man in authority. The 
committee has tried to ascertain whether or not any mining com- 
pany has discriminated ag-ainst any man or has discharged him for 
making complaints, and has been unable to find one case where that 
has been done. Nevertheless, the fact remains that many of the men 
do not feel free to go to their employers with their grievances. The 
committee also has been unable to find a single case where any 
employer, mine manager or person in authority has refused to 
meet with any man or with any committee of the men to discuss the 
grievances and problems arising during the course of the work. If 
s<>me method could be adopted by which the men could be assured 
that they might come freely to their employers and tell their 
troubles and present their grievances without incurring any dis- 
pleasure or discrimination, the problem of presentation of griev- 
ances would be solved. 

Conclusion. Undoubtedly by withholding this report for some 
future time, the committee would be enabled to embody much valu- 
able information and data which is not at hand at the present, but 
it is felt that the publication of the report at this time, giving the 
facts as the committee has found them, may help to clear away 
many of the false issues that have been raised and may do some- 
thing toward bringing to a termination the unfortunate state of 
affairs existing in the Copper Country. 

The Committee has come to the conclusion that: 

1. The mine managers will not recognize the Western Federa- 
tion of Miner-. 

2. Xo minimum wage applicable to all mines in the district 
can be established with justice to all parties concerned. 

3. The one-man drill ha- come to stay. 

The committee ha- also concluded: 

1. That the rjue-tion of establishing some kind of an 8-hour 



84 STRIKE INVESTIGATION 

working day ought to receive the serious consideration of both men 
and operators. 

2. That some attempt ought to be made to provide an ade- 
quate method by which the employee can obtain and have per- 
fectly free access to the management for the purpose of presenting 
grievances without fear of discrimination or discharge. 

With these conclusions in mind, the committee decided to 
meet the managers of the various mining companies and put before 
them its findings relative to an 8-hour shift and the presentation 
of grievances, with the hope that something might be done to adjust 
those matters. 

At the meeting which was held there were present managers or 
other representatives of each of the companies mentioned in the 
report, and the following statement was made to the committee 
and agreed to by each representative: 

1. That, as previously stated, the mining companies had 
under favorable consideration for some time previous to the strike, 
the establishment of an 8-hour working day for underground em- 
ployees ; that the different conditions at the various mines render 
it impossible to work out an absolutely uniform working day for 
all underground employees at all of the mines ; that each manage- 
ment will work the problem out with reference to its own peculiar 
conditions ; that this could not be done in a short time ; but that 
each management will establish and have in operation an 8-hour 
working day for underground employees on or before January I, 
1914. 

2. That the adjustment of grievances ultimately rests with the 
general manager, superintendent or man highest in authority at the 
mine; 

That, therefore, the solution of the grievance problem lies in 
providing and maintaining a method of free access between the 
men and the general manager or official highest in authority at 
the mine; 

That, therefore, each manager will set aside a certain fixed day 
or half day in each week as a day for hearing complaints and 
grievances ; 

That he will devote such day exclusively to meeting men and 
hearing complaints; 



STRIKE INVESTIGATION 85 

That he will investigate every complaint presented to him and 
will adjust every legitimate grievance with all possible speed; 

That he will see to it that no man is discriminated or militated 
against because oi presenting complaints; 

That he will prepare a notice embodying the above and will 
distribute it among his employees. 

The committee feels that with the inauguration of the above 
plans there must necessarily come closer acquaintance between 
employer and employee, from which will result untold good to both 
parties. 

This report is closed with the heartfelt hope that the work of 
the committee, and the data gathered by it, will in some measure 
aid in restoring the good name of this district, and will in some 
measure aid the parties concerned in the strike to bring it to a close. 

Dated Calumet, Mich., October 8, 1913. 

EDWARD ULSETH, 
HEXRY L. BAER, 
J. W. BLACK, 

Special Committee, Copper Country Commercial Club. 

The foregoing report was presented and read to the under- 
signed Board of Directors of the Copper Country Commercial Club 
on this tenth day of October, 1913, and the same is hereby approved. 

JOS. W. SELDEX, President, 
FREDERICK K. GUCK, Secretary, 
W. R. THOMPSON, Treasurer, 
THOS. W. ARMSTRONG, 
J. P. PETERMANN, 
A. F. HEIDKAMP, 
HOMER A. GUCK. 
JOHN' B. DEE, 
JAMES T. FISHER, 

Board of Directors of the Copper Country Commercial Club. 



If. a. no\-onrr. ,v- COMPANY 

PRINTERS :-: :-: CHICAGO 



